64 War of the Pygmies
by ARtheBard
Summary: The team flies out to Socorro, NM on Boxing Day to find out why a peaceful commune suddenly committed mass suicide. Or did they? Soon after they arrive they realize things are not as they seem. But what price will the team pay to find out what really happened on Christmas Eve?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: The town of Socorro does exist. The commune does not. But it could! Socorro is known for its artists so it just seemed they would be receptive to a place that the original founders envisioned. :o)**

**Sorry it took so long. Finished it, reread it, decided I hated how it ended. So I rewrote the resolution. Lol**

**Enjoy!  
-AR**

* * *

It had taken every once of will power she possessed for Emily to say goodbye to her daughter on Monday morning. Even knowing she is in the States and if needed could drive to get home did nothing to calm the irritation in her. When Hotch sees her gathering some files at her desk he makes his way over to her.

"Emily, I hate that this happened to any of us but especially to you. It's not right and I do apologize."

She sighs. "She was still sleeping when I said goodbye. Probably a good thing because I cried more this time than the first time I left her at home after she no longer needed nursing. It would have scared her." She takes a deep breath. "But this is my job, Hotch. I'll be all in mentally by the time we get there. You have my word."

He gives her a supportive smile. "Of that I have no doubt, Prentiss. I just wanted you to know I understand what you're dealing with. If at any time you need to step away to call home, do it. Center yourself when needed."

Emily nods. "I will. Thank you."

He gives her a pat on the arm and goes on up to his office to grab a couple things. After JJ finishes packing her briefcase she walks over to Emily.

"All okay?"

Emily smiles. "Yes. Fine. Hotch was just apologizing for taking me away so soon. Told me to take a break if I need to while we're out there."

"Good. You actually seem a little more settled for that talk."

"I am," Emily admits. "It helps to remember that this team is always behind me. No one will think me weak if I have to talk to a 15 month old to make it through the day."

JJ chuckles. "Very true." She takes her wife's hand. "Come on. I need a lift to the runway."

"What a coincidence," Emily says as she slips her briefcase strap over her shoulder, "I happen to be headed that way."

Smiling, the two head out to get settled on the airplane and await the rest of their team.

* * *

Once they are on their cross country journey the team starts to review the information that had been sent to them overnight. All are saddened by the pictures of men, women and children all dead for reasons as yet unknown. Two hours and 2 carafes of coffee later, the last tablet is set down. The agents all exchange looks.

"Merry Christmas to us," Morgan mutters. The others nod in agreement.

Hotch and Rossi move to the middle of the plane. Rossi sits beside Morgan on the couch as the unit chief remains standing. Hotch looks at Reid.

"Reid, run down what we know about cult leaders."

Reid sits up straight. "According to Joe Navarro's 'Narcissists Among Us' there are 50 commonly accepted traits that can be found in all cult leaders. The key traits for us are that they are notoriously egotistical. They are power-hungry and have a belief that they have all the answers, sometimes actually believing they have been given divine messages showing them their path to glory. All tend to be incredibly good at reading people and are able to hide their narcissism enough to draw in willing followers. Most people don't realize that they've been had until they have put in many years of service to the leader. The die-hard followers never lose their infatuation with the leader as they tend to be the most easily governed by a need to feel included, which the leader has exploited. Leaders use a variety of means for control including sex, drugs, establishment of a reward-punishment system in which the punishment is viewed by the collective while the reward is a special event between the leader and the follower."

"So he can isolate people while making the others crave that special attention," JJ confirms.

Reid nods. "Exactly. He also will take away the ability of his followers to come and go as they please, especially if he feels they are not completely following his doctrine. That is the man we need to locate."

"How do we do that?" Garcia asks.

Hotch looks at the analyst. "You may be our best hope for that. Somewhere in their computers or in the DVD's or videos that are kept in the office is the man who turned a simple commune that's been around for 40 years into a death camp. Look for anyone giving speeches regarding end of time declarations, government persecution rants, or declaring himself or herself a deity or messenger of a deity."

"Right. Okay. So anyone who thinks he's the next Jim Jones," Garcia says with a nod.

"Exactly," Hotch says. He looks to the team. "It has been cold enough the bodies haven't broken down very much but they still want to get them out today to start autopsies, confirm identities, and start family notifications. There's a good chance some families may already be arriving if they had loved ones on the commune. The local sheriff called in the National Guard to establish a perimeter around the place. It's 1500 acres so there's still a chance a reporter or someone else could sneak on the property. Keep your eyes open for anyone that doesn't belong there." He looks at JJ. "Any idea what you want to do?"

JJ looks down at her tablet. A photo of a mother holding her little girl even in death is front and center. She rubs her stomach and looks back at Hotch.

"Families deserve answers as soon as possible. There are what, 12 housing units? Guess that means 3 for each of us."

"Does it strike anyone as strange that a commune that has been around this long only has 12 housing units?" Rossi asks. "I mean at some point couples would want privacy."

Morgan nods. "That's true. And a place like that should have been all about that." He starts to flip through the pictures on his tablet again. "Okay, right here." He holds it up. "Does that look like maybe house foundations?"

The others nod. "Morgan, check those places out after we finish with the dorms. Try to determine if they are houses and, if so, when they were torn down," Hotch orders.

Morgan nods. "Will do."

"Let me just say again, if at any time you need to step back to collect yourself, do so. This is going to be tough for all of us. Let's get answers and get home."

The others nod in agreement. Hotch and Rossi go back to their seats as the others settle in for the rest of the flight, all contemplating what they will need to do to get answers in regards to hundreds of deaths.

* * *

After the team lands in Albuquerque they drive south towards Socorro. After about 50 minutes on I-25 they take state roads west to the commune, which sits about 20 minutes northwest of Socorro and midway to Cibola National Forest. As their 3 SUV's pull up to the gates, a National Guard member walks up to the window.

"Sir, media is asked to report to Socorro for- -"

Hotch holds up his badge stopping the recitation. "Sheriff Derringer is expecting us."

The young man nods. "My apologies, sir. He let us know you were coming. You can imagine we've had more than one media outlet trying to get onsite. Even caught a few cameramen out in the hills trying to get here on foot. Truth is this place is big enough 1 or 2 may actually slip by."

"So we've heard. Just do your best, Sergeant, that's all you can ask of yourself."

The man nods. "Will do, sir. Good luck with what you're doing, too. This just all…it just doesn't make a damn bit of sense."

"Things like this never do," Hotch assures him.

The sergeant steps back and gestures to his men to let the SUV's through. As they pass through, Emily takes one hand off the steering wheel and takes her wife's hand.

"You okay?"

JJ nods. "I will be. I just…I have to help find answers if I can. I just can't understand how she could just…just hold her little girl as she died and not fight to save her."

Emily nods in agreement. She had wondered the same thing about the same picture. Garcia sits up and pats JJ on the shoulder.

"If you all need a break, come see me, Sparky and the guys."

JJ turns around, a grin on her face. "You brought your troll doll?"

"Yep. And my other little friends. I knew I'd need them to talk me off any possible ledges. I decided after that crap in Long Island I would never leave the BAU without them again."

JJ smiles. "Good call, Pen. Thanks."

"Well, here we are," Emily says as she pulls up beside Morgan's SUV. She takes a deep breath. "But when Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them, 'Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God."

Garcia frowns. "What was that, Princess?"

Emily gives a sad grin. "That was my Catholic schoolgirl coming out. Mark 10:14, 'Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God.' Guess I just want to say a little prayer of some sort for all the children."

JJ kisses her wife's hand. "Well said, honey. Well said."

The three women get out and join the guys near a tent where Hotch is talking to the sheriff.

"Sheriff Derringer, these are SSA's Morgan, Rossi, Jareau, Prentiss and Dr. Reid. Also our analyst is Penelope Garcia who will be checking out the computers and other electronics."

Derringer shakes each person's hand. Well, except Reid's, who doesn't shake hands. "Damn glad to have you all here. I've known Skinny Pines for near 20 years. He always said this was a place of peace, art, and love. Never saw anything to contradict that belief. Few times there was trouble out here it was just someone who tired of the commune life or who didn't realize that you really do have to work to make a go of it. Slackers didn't last long. All this," he waves a hand back towards the buildings, meaning the death, "just doesn't make sense to me. Pines wasn't about this…this death and shit."

"Good to know," Hotch tells him. He gives him a rundown of who is doing what to start the investigation.

Derringer nods. "Sounds good. Each building has a guard outside of it overnight just in case any of those damn reporters gets through the perimeter." He points to the tent. "This here is a serenity tent. I'm an alderman at my church and when I told my minister what was going on he offered to set this up. You need to step away you can go in there for a drink to get a bite to eat or just to clear your head. He's a trained psychologist so if you need to talk you can do that, too. Heck, you all probably don't need this but I have to say my men and I will." He slowly shakes his head. "We haven't ever seen anything like this anywhere but news reports and textbooks."

"Most people haven't," Hotch concedes. "Glad you saw the need for a place to decompress. We'll all appreciate it by the end of this investigation."

"No problem. Well, you all go do what you need to do. Agent Garcia, if you like I'll show you to the office."

"Sure. But I'm not an agent. You can call me the Supreme Empress of All Things Known and Unknown in Cyberspace…or just Garcia, whichever you prefer," she says with a wink.

Derringer gives a chuckle, something he wouldn't have believed possible a few minutes before. "Right. We'll go with Garcia. Right this way, ma'am."

The agents grin as Garcia follows the sheriff to the office. Hotch turns to his team.

"Any last questions?" No one has any. "Then let's get to work."


	2. Chapter 2

Reid slowly walks into the arts and crafts building. All around the large open space he sees easels with partially done paintings, pottery stations with unfired creations, half-carved sculptures.

He slowly walks around, looking at the images and pieces. Did any reveal an Armageddon-type prophecy? Did any give a hint of an imminent demise?

"Nothing. Nothing that shows desperation or hints at persecution. Strange," he says, more to break the ethereal silence than anything else.

He finally gets to the only two bodies in this building. He squats down and studies the man and woman who had died in each other's arms. They don't look afraid. Instead they look…

"Peaceful," he murmurs. "You accepted your deaths peacefully. Why? Did you just…go to sleep or what?" he asks as if they could answer him.

He stands and notices another room. He goes to the door and finds it is locked. He pulls out his new lock pick kit, courtesy of his Secret Santa (thanks, Emily), and makes quick work of the door. In here he finds a very different sort of studio.

"Holy shit."

The images are dark, lots of black and red in the paintings. Some feature people who seem to be in extreme pain and/or terror. He walks up to one. It shows what appear to be a mother and 2 children standing over the body of the father. Those standing are bloody, either from their own wounds or from whatever killed the father. Reid looks closer. Their mouths are X's.

"So they have been silenced," he notes. "But what were they saying or doing that necessitated silencing?"

He makes note of the initials in the corner of the painting. He would need to find the artist, figure out where in the hierarchy they sat, and determine why they had to silence an entire family on canvas.

He walks around and looks at the rest of the artwork. Blood, pain and symbolic silencing are all themes repeated often. He slowly shakes his head. These were all finished pieces.

"This was a lesson room. If people went against the leader's vision or objected somehow they were brought here to see what happens to non-believers. But who and what are they meant to believe?"

He spends three hours going over each and every piece of art in the building but there is nothing to give him a hint as to who the leader is.

"Strange. Not one bit of idolatry in the works. Somewhere there has to be tributes to the leader. If they are willing to create condemnation works for him or her they had to create celebrations. We're missing artwork."

With one last look around, he walks out and secures the building. After the bodies are removed the rest of the team will look this place over and then he will see if they come up with the same conclusions he did. He goes to track down Hotch and see what living quarters still need to be profiled.

* * *

When Emily enters the school she takes a deep breath. Her mind briefly flashes to a small schoolroom in Colorado where simple questioning of children had turned into three days of terror. She lets out her breath slowly.

"Look at the bright side, Prentiss: no one is alive to beat the crap out of you."

Taking another steadying breath she immediately goes to the bodies of the three teachers. One sits at a desk, her head and arms across it in death, as if she had just passed out there. The second lies on the floor in the coatroom, curled in the fetal position. The third lays spread eagle on the rug in the play area.

"All of you seem so…so peaceful. Why did you choose to die here? Or did you? You look like you just fell asleep," she notes, unknowingly echoing Reid's observation.

She starts to walk away but something catches her eye about the woman on the rug. She steps closer and lifts her arm. She notices the discoloration and frowns.

"That's settling. Her body wasn't here when she died. Or it wasn't like this."

She pulls out her tablet and checks the photos taken by the sheriff and one of his deputies. The body is exactly as it appears in the photo. She pulls out her phone and calls the sheriff.

"Sheriff Derringer, I just want to confirm the position of one of the bodies. The teacher on the rug…was she on her side when you all arrived? And maybe fell over when her blood was drawn or something?" She listens a second, nodding in thought. "I see. Okay, thanks, Sheriff."

Emily hangs up and stares at the woman a second longer. She had been that way when found. But where had she been beforehand? Who moved her? And why?

"Why were teachers here on a Saturday night or Sunday morning? What the hell is going on?"

She gets up and checks the other two bodies. Both show the same sort of settling in the skin that is visible. Strange. Very strange. Making a note about the discrepancy, she starts to go through the teaching materials. At first things seem pretty basic. The older kids were learning math, science, and reading the classics. Papers and notes she can find show there was a very liberal angle to the teachings, which isn't surprising considering the origins of this commune.

When she starts to look at the things for the middle-school age children she starts to notice a theme of punishment and the oppression of the weak by the strong, with a theme of conforming or becoming the one oppressed.

"What the hell? Nothing very 'love and peace' about this shit," she mutters.

When she gets to the teachings for the youngest children it doesn't take her long to get past the ABC's and 1-2-3's to the fire and damnation images. She slowly shakes her head.

"This place was turning from peace and love to hate and fear. But who was pulling those fucking strings?"

She starts to look deeper, trying to find a clue as to who that person is, because she is pretty sure it isn't the aging hippie dead in the community meeting hall. She looks around, thinking about things you would see in a school. She frowns.

"Where is the artwork? The little kids were reading about a king. Most teachers would have them paint or draw pictures of kings. I see the supplies for that, can see they've been used, but where are the pictures themselves?"

She goes over to a large, empty wall. Looking closely she can see evidence of tape residue all over it.

"Pictures would have hung here; things for the kids to be proud of and for the teachers to use in their teaching. Where are they now?"

She is preparing to leave when she notices a scuff mark on the floor beside a tall bookshelf. She walks over and peeks behind it. A door. She pushes the bookshelf down the wall, freeing the doorway. She tries the handle and is surprised to find it unlocked. The hair on the back of her neck stands up and for some reason she feels the need to pull her gun before opening the door. Lifting her gun she quietly turns the knob…then flings open the door and steps through, her gun immediately sweeping the room. As she takes in the walls, her gun lowers.

"Holy shit."

The walls are painted black. White and red paint has been used to depict people in various poses of pain while being attacked by giant men with swords and guns. She reaches back out and flips on the light switch. She literally jumps as the unexpected black light illuminates demons swooping down on warriors and victims alike.

She steps warily into the room, as if worried the door will slam shut and trap her in the horror. She slowly turns and sees the words written on the wall beside the door.

"_When the war of the giants is over, the wars of the pygmies will begin_," she reads. "That's Winston Churchill," she notes. She slowly turns and stares at the images again. Finally in one corner she sees the drawing of a small hill. On top stands a figure in white, spear in the air. The demons appear to be coming from the spear.

"And attacking the giants. You're the leader. You're telling them to follow you because you will be the one to lead them out of war, out of terror, into peace. So who the fuck are you?"

Out of curiosity, she reaches out again and flips the other light switch. Not surprisingly, hidden speakers in the walls start to play sounds of war, screams, and other sounds that would drive someone crazy with fear. She flips it back off, shivering at the thought of a child being in this room.

"Agent Prentiss?"

"HOLY FUCK!" Emily squeaks as she spins around, her gun up.

Sheriff Derringer throws up his hands. "WHOA! JUST ME!"

Emily slowly brings her gun down and holsters it. "Sorry. This…imagery and some of the teachings I read got to me," she says, leaning against the wall until her heart stops racing.

For his part, Derringer is staring open-mouthed at the terrible imagery on the walls of the small room. After a moment, he looks at Emily.

"What the hell is all this?"

"My guess is this was the punishment room. If kids acted up they got put in here until they towed the party line."

"My God…that's…that's barbaric!"

Emily nods. "It is. It's also a way to start training the children early to follow a doctrine."

"Who the fuck did this? Skinny wasn't like this! He wasn't…he wasn't LIKE THIS!"

Emily nods. "I know." She point to the image of the pygmy in the corner. "That is the person we need to find. And I am starting to think we won't find them here."

Derringer looks at her. "What do you mean?"

"I have a bad feeling they set these bodies exactly how they wanted them found. They staged things to make it seem like a mass suicide but I don't believe that's what happened here."

"You mean…mass murder?"

"Just a theory right now and it is just based on this one building, but that's my initial impression."

She steps out of the room. Derringer follows her after one more look around. She turns out the light and closes the door.

"I took a look at that body you called me about," he says, aiming to change the subject. "Saw the discoloration you noticed. Guess I missed it first time around. That's why you think this was all staged."

"Yes. Part of the reason." She glances around the room. "I think I've done all I can here. I'm going to check in with Hotch and see where else he needs me."

Derringer nods. "Sounds good. Just got word your RV's are almost here so I'll go meet them at the gate and direct them in."

Emily raises an eyebrow. "What RV's?"

Derringer colors. "Uh, Agent Hotchner said it would be best if you all stayed here instead of going to a hotel is Socorro. Less media frenzy that way."

Emily chuckles. "Smart man not to tell us. Especially Rossi. Still might have to tease him about it, though."

Derringer grins. "You could probably all use a laugh so make it a good tease."

Emily smiles and nods. "I will. Thanks, Sheriff."

Derringer nods and the two split up. Emily slowly scans all the buildings as she goes. For some reason Hotch had decided to wait and have all of them check out the community building together. But Emily decides to detour there to check on one thing. As she enters she slowly shakes her head: Right near the door is the woman cradling her little girl that had disturbed JJ; disturbed all of them, really.

"Why did you do it, honey? Why?" she whispers.

Stepping past all the bodies she makes her way to Skinny Pines. He sits on a chair on an elevated stage at the far end of the building. She steps up on the stage and carefully rolls up the sleeves of his long-sleeve tie dye tee. (Stereotype, she thinks.) She notes the settling markings. He, too, had been laying down when he died and later put here.

"Or did you die, fall out of the chair, and someone moved you later? What the hell?"

She shivers. All the heat had been turned off in buildings with bodies to help stall decomposition. But her shiver is more from the creeps than from the chill. She stands and looks around. At least 30 bodies are in here.

"More if there are kids I can't see," she mumbles to herself. "Who the hell did all this? And why?"

She shakes her head and leaves the building to go see if there is anything Hotch wants her to see and to pass on her suspicions about the bodies being posed.

* * *

When Garcia walks into the office building she notices that one room is set up with 20 computers. This is the hub for their webhosting business. She looks at the sheriff.

"Did you all turn the computers off?"

Derringer shakes his head. "Nope. They were off when we got here."

"Ah. Strange."

"Why?"

"This is where they did webhosting, site building, maintenance for their customers. Turning all this off is like…like bees deciding to put honey somewhere other than they hive. Just doesn't make sense."

"Oh, I see."

"Mind helping me turn them all on?"

Derringer shakes his head and the two walk around turning on each computer. Derringer sighs as he notices a box on all the monitors.

"Damn. Password protected. Guess these will be useless."

Garcia smiles, "Oh no, my dear sheriff, we'll squeeze every piece information out of these CPU's."

He smiles. "I like your attitude, Garcia."

"I am the official ray of sunshine and happiness for the team. If you need a spritz of goodness come see me."

He nods. "I will. Thank you, ma'am. Well, I'll let you go to it here. If you have any questions have the deputy outside call me on the radio."

"Will do."

After Derringer leaves, Garcia plugs in a remote access drive and pulls out her cell phone.

"Are you ready my little cyber elf?"

Kevin grins at the use of a nickname and follows suit. "Ready when you are, my queen. What are we looking at?"

"There are 20 computers in here. A small set up for what they were doing. I am guessing there is a hub somewhere."

Kevin had started typing as soon as Garcia had called. "Okay, I'm in and see the 20 computers registered to Dessert Oasis Web Services."

"Those are them. My guess there is a lot of business on them but not much else. Still, we need to check them all."

"Yep. On it now. What will you be doing?"

"The man that was in charge of the commune had a computer and so did his secretary. If anything hinky was going on, they will probably have the information."

"What is the team thinking?"

"I don't know yet," she admits sadly. "Mostly it is just a lot of sadness and revulsion and wondering how parents could do it to their kids."

Kevin sighs. "Yeah, pretty much thinking the same." He pauses. "Look I, uh, just wanna say…if you need to vent or…anything…and maybe don't want to take the horror to Stephanie…I'm here for you, Penny."

Garcia smiles, her little heart skipping a beat at the sincere offer. "Thank you, Kevin. I appreciate the offer. Now, uh, you go ahead and get into these systems and I'll go check out the others."

Kevin nods, glad his offer wasn't rebuked. Maybe they really could be friends after all and not just work associates. "On it. Talk to you soon."

Garcia hangs up and goes into the office to start to peel through the cyber histories of Skinny Pines and his secretary. She starts with Pines. If she knows one thing about cults it's that the leader is the one calling the shots. His thoughts, his manifesto, his reason for mass killing should be in his computer.

For two hours she peels through his cyber history. When she finishes she slumps down in the desk chair.

"Nothing. Nothing wacko or…or…deadly." She thinks a minute. "So maybe his secretary was his Cyrano de Bergerac, standing in the shadows and telling him what to do."

She goes out and starts to dive into the secretary's computer. It takes her 20 minutes.

"Wow. That was a lesson in 100 ways to not use a computer. She played games, typed a letter or two and that's about it. Bet she is one of the older ladies. Which probably means it was all done on paper."

She slowly looks around the office. She starts to open drawers but finds nothing but financial statements, bills, tax forms, and invoices. She shakes her head.

"I'm missing something. Or…or is it not here to be missed?" She pulls out her phone. "Hotch, I think I need help. There are no hints in the computers as to what could have led to…to…you know…so it has to be on paper but I'm not finding it there, either. Think someone who really is a profiler could come see what I'm missing?"

Hotch nods. "As soon as someone finishes with their current assignment I'll send them your way. What about the work computers?"

"Kevin is working on those. I'll touch base with him and start on the ones he hasn't dealt with yet."

"Good work, Garcia."

"Thanks, sir."

Garcia hangs up and goes back to the hub. She calls Kevin to see where he is and then gets to work on one of the other computers. There just has to be something somewhere to help her team. They have been working for 40 minutes when Reid comes in.

"Hotch sent me over to check out the offices."

"Good. The secretary did major nada on her computer. I figure she had to do it by hand if she was older and used to doing it that way."

Reid nods. "Most likely. I'll let you know if I find anything."

Garcia nods. "Go for it, Boy Wonder."

She starts to type again. A few minutes later she frowns. "What the hell is that?"

She types a few times but has found an impenetrable wall. Well, impenetrable to most…but not Garcia. She types and scolds, even calls the computer's parentage into question a few times but finally she breaks through the first part…and her heart leaps into her throat.

"Oh. My. God. REEEEIIIID!"


	3. Chapter 3

Hotch steps into the first building. Most of the bodies are in beds though some are on the floor. He counts 20 beds, half of which are occupied. The empty ones don't match the number of people on the floor so some beds must belong to those dead in other places or were surplus. He walks down the center aisle, just taking in everything to get a feel for the building and the people in it.

As he walks back, he stops at the first bed to study the occupant. A serene smile is on the man's face. He is on his side, one hand under his pillow, the other under the sheet. He starts to turn away then stops, frowning. He leans closer and studies the arm under the pillow.

"Discoloration…you didn't die here," he murmurs. He makes a note in his tablet and then moves to the next body to see if it shows a similar discrepancy. "You too," he says to the man. "So where did you die and why did someone put you back in here?"

He goes to the first person on the ground. He sighs and says a quick prayer for the child, maybe 10, who has lost his life. He carefully checks the limbs but sees no discoloration other than the settling you would expect in this position. He turns from the child, back to the adult, noting a few things.

"The adults died first," he decides. "Then the children. But why? Why did any of you have to die? And what could make you go so peacefully without any of you showing signs of overdose? No vomit, no bodies in states of muscle spasm. It's like you just went to sleep and didn't wake up."

Shaking his head as he has more questions then answers he stands. Time to look into their lives. He goes over to a series of lockers on one wall. None have locks.

"Trusting bunch. Of course living in a dorm like this I would guess you'd have to be."

He starts to go through the lockers on the top row of the two-tier set. Inside he finds photos, belts, socks, underwear, personal trinkets…but no jewelry of any sort. Not even a watch. He turns and scans the dead. No one wears anything that he can see. He goes back and looks at several bodies. He sees tan lines for watches on all of them and rings on some.

"Someone didn't just stage bodies. They helped themselves to the anything they could sell or melt down. This is looking more and more like murder," he notes.

He glances at his watch. The coroner would be there with help to recover the bodies in 4 hours. He needs to keep moving or risk not getting to each body.

"The lockers can wait," he tells himself. "Check the bodies and move on."

He goes back to checking each body for any hint as to how they died…and why. He is on his third building when Garcia calls asking for help. Conveniently Reid walks in just then looking for his next assignment. Hotch sends him to the analyst, hating the thought that he'd rather not be alone while looking at all this pointless death.

"Get over it, Hotchner. They aren't zombies just victims who deserve justice," he coaches himself as he starts to go body to body once more.

* * *

Rossi stands in the doorway of the second building he was assigned. As he slowly studies the bodies, a sudden question hits him.

"Where are the cups? Or plates? Or even syringes? How did they dose all these people and who was left to clean it up?" He starts to pace as he considers these questions. "Okay, 1 person could have cleaned up and then taken their own life. They will either be near a trash receptor or even a burn pit filled with the detritus of the other items used to kill. Or they got rid of everything except that which they drank from and we'll find that cup with them."

He considers the Heaven's Gate cult. They had timed their death to coincide with the Hale-Bopp comet passing by earth. All had taken poison, died and then one member cleaned up the cups, cleaned up the bodies, and even put a bandana over the faces of the deceased. That could have happened here, too. When the team meets up again he will have to ask if anyone looked like they had cleaned up the scene in any way. He'll also need Garcia to check to see if there was any significance, other than Christmas, that made this the weekend the death's had to occur.

He then thinks about the women in the first hut and the men in this one. Most are in bed. He shakes his head. "You don't just take shit and fall asleep. That only works in the movies. In real life people vomit, lose control of the bowels and bladder, foam at the mouth, spasm. Someone, somewhere should show distress at the time of the death but so far everyone just looks like they went to sleep."

He kneels down beside a teenager and studies the body carefully. He is about to stand when the young man's shoes catch his eyes. He leans closer and confirms what he thought he saw.

"Wrong feet. No teen makes that mistake. Well, maybe if you are mentally handicapped but in that case someone would have corrected you; made you switch your shoes. But if someone was in a hurry and not really paying attention to details, maybe they put your loafers on the wrong feet. Heck, not like you'd complain, right?"

Rossi slowly stands. "Okay, Rossi, what else doesn't fit in here?"

He looks around, trying not to profile the scene as time is of the essence with the bodies but something had been bothering him and it finally hits him.

"Where are the mementos? The photos? The things that define a happy family? Were you all forced to get rid of them to help you conform to some madman's idea of family? Maybe your only loyalty was to be to him and those trinkets could remind you that someone else is important, too. A megalomaniac would hate that."

After getting those thought worms out of his head and into his tablet, he takes a deep breath and starts to go bunk to bunk, body to body, to see what they can tell him about why they are dead. Much like when he'd gotten to the end of the first hut, he ends the second with more questions than answers. He did, however, notice the same lack of jewelry that Hotch had.

"Looks more and more like mass murder to me," Rossi says to himself. "This just isn't looking like another Jonestown." What bugs him the most is only a few are dead in the building with the leader. He slowly shakes his head. "If he ordered this, more would be with him; more would be around to hear his final words and declarations. This just isn't…right. Too many aspects of different cases of mass suicide and nothing that makes this one feel like those."

He takes a deep breath. "Okay, Rossi, keep to the facts," he tells himself. "Make your notes and move on."

He makes a few more notes on this hut and then goes to the final one on his checklist.

* * *

Morgan had finished his three huts. As he steps out into air only slightly cooler than the building he zips his coat up. He takes a few deep breaths to clear his head. Try as he might, it doesn't help. A little girl in that building looked so much like Rocky it is really getting to him.

"Gonna have to see if Emily and JJ will let me talk to my Goddaughter tonight. I need…need…" he slowly shakes his head. "How can someone do that to a sweet little kid?"

Wiping away the tear that escapes his eye, he turns away from the huts and heads towards the area of the commune that had once apparently had single family homes. By the time he gets there 10 minutes later he is on slightly firmer emotional ground. He stops and surveys the area from afar. The plot spacing. The perfect square imprints left in the ground. Remnants of fuse boxes and spigots.

"Definitely houses," Morgan notes. "But why take the time to build them over the years only to destroy them and go to dorm living? Makes no sense. Maybe something is wrong here. Unstable ground, well dried up, something."

Morgan walks to the first house imprint and drops down in the 1 foot deep hole. He takes a few pictures of the plant life and texts them to Garcia to see if she can find a way to tell how old they are. He then kicks a few out of the way and starts to kick at the hard packed earth. He goes around the whole site, then pops out and goes to the next house. By the fifth house he is sure the destruction had nothing to do with the ground.

"It's all solid. No cracks or clay or anything else that would make the building unstable. Okay, what about utilities?"

He walks over to the remnants of the electrical box. He sees the wires are missing completely. He raises an eyebrow.

"Copper wire's all missing. Bet a local junk yard buys copper and got a lot from here."

He checks each foundation and finds all have had their copper wire removed from the juncture where electric would have entered the house. Yep, unless there is artwork made with the wire someone made a good bit of money off it.

He next makes his way to the well that still stands in the distance. He kneels down and checks the pump but the electric to the pump had also been cut. The only way to check to see if the well had gone dry would be to bring a company out to check that.

"We'll leave that at as a last resort," he tells himself.

Next he walks over to the solar panel farm that had fed the houses. Once again, all copper wires gone. The panels are still sitting in the sun but without a connection to a circuit of some sort they are simply lawn decorations. Morgan shakes his head.

"It's a ghost town here. So much was invested in this area and yet it's now dead. Just more that doesn't make sense here." Morgan's observations break off as he gets a text back from Garcia.

_"Hello, Stud. Best I can tell from my research into the native flora is it is about 2 years old."_

He nods. Based on nature's reclamation of the land he had thought the same. _"Thanks, Baby Girl. Next question: can you check with local recyclers that pay for copper and see if anyone from the commune traded some for cash in the last 2 years."_

_"On it. Will be back to you soon!"_

Morgan pockets his phone and sees it has been nearly 4 hours since they arrived. He starts back towards the main campus of the commune, hoping there would be no reason to go into another building before the bodies have been removed. His approach puts him behind hut 12. Suddenly he notices something that seems odd.

"What the hell is that doing there?" he wonders as he moves closer to investigate.

* * *

JJ takes a deep breath and pauses before she enters her third and final hut. She rubs her stomach.

"Last one, guys. Promise."

Taking one more deep breath she goes inside. She quickly counts and notes there are only 13 people in this hut: 11 women and 2 children. All are in their beds this time. She looks around and can tell a few other beds are normally in use. Their occupants are most likely in the community hall.

"So, Jennifer, what do you see here that makes it different than the other two?"

She thinks a minute.

"No one on the floor. Everyone died in their beds." She walks closer. "Older women and what look to be the two youngest children in the commune. Perhaps babysitting while the mother or mothers were in a meeting? Turned in early, went to sleep, and just never woke up. What the hell? If it was suicide, the mothers would have their kids, right? To protect them or shield them…something to make sure their babies didn't suffer." She takes off her FBI cap and runs her hand over her head. "Of course, a real mother wouldn't murder her child so a lot of common sense goes out the window."

She put her cap back on and continues through the hut, profiling the victims and the hut itself to give them insight into those who died and those who killed them. Finally she reaches the end of the long room. She starts towards the lockers when a noise catches her ear. In the eerie silence of the hut any noise would be noticeable and this wasn't the sound of a scurrying critter. It was more like the shuffle of feet. Her left hand goes to her earpiece as she lifts her right leg and pulls out her clutch piece.

"Hotch," she whispers, "there is someone alive in hut 11 hiding in a closet or something."

"On my way," Hotch responds.

He hurries out of hut 6 not surprised to see Rossi also hurrying out of hut 5. Both have their guns ready as they make their way to hut 11. Could this be a witness or is this the one who cleaned up after everyone else died? They enter silently, noting JJ standing about midway up the aisle, her gun trained on a door at the far end of the building.

"Step out, JJ," Hotch orders.

JJ nods. "Yes, sir."

She backs towards the door, her gun only lowering when Rossi and Hotch get into her line of fire. Hotch and Rossi get to the door and take their stance. Hotch nods to Rossi to take the lead.

"THIS IS THE FBI! COME OUT INTO THE MAIN ROOM!" Rossi orders.

More shuffling is heard, as well as a whimper. The agents exchange a look. Rossi tries once more.

"COME OUT NOW WITH YOUR HANDS UP AND NO ONE WILL HURT YOU!"

There is more shuffling then nothing. Hotch takes a deep breath and steps forward, wrapping a hand around the door knob, thankful it opens outwards. Rossi holds up three fingers. Two. One. Hotch flings open the door.

Nothing but an open window.

"SHIT! Outside!" Hotch yells.

Hotch runs towards the back door as Rossi runs into what turns out to be a small bathroom. He leans out the window and sees a figure running towards the front of the building but the window is too small for the agent to use.

As soon as Hotch had said the suspect is outside, JJ had run out the front door and towards the side of the building. She had expected to see a suspect running off in the distance. Instead she is knocked to the ground by a frantic teenager, who falls beside her.

"OOMPH!" she grunts as the wind is knocked out of her.

She still has clarity of mind enough to grab onto one of the boy's legs as he tries to scramble away. He kicks out at her hands, trying desperately to get away. When his foot connects with her wrist she releases him. As he gets to his feet…

…he is tackled by a FURIOUS Emily Prentiss. As he struggles she punches him in the face then, as he lies there stunned, she levels her gun to his face.

"Go on…struggle some more. Give me a reason fire," she dares him with a murderous calm in her voice.

He stares at her in terror. JJ crawls over.

"Em, I'm okay. He's just a kid. He's just a kid, Emily. Look at him."

"Prentiss, off him," Hotch orders. "PRENTISS!" he says more forcefully when she doesn't move.

JJ reaches out and puts her hand over Emily's gun hand. "Emily. Please," she whispers.

"Why were you running?" Emily demands of the boy, still not sure what she is going to do.

He bursts into tears, seeming to crumble. "It's my fault. I killed them. It's all my fault. They are all dead because of me. I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean for them to die! I didn't mean it! I killed them all!"


	4. Chapter 4

When Garcia had called for Reid it was because she had cracked the first wall of the cyberfortress buried in the computers. The images had been disturbing enough to actually scare her and make her call for the Boy Wonder.

"REID! What the hell is this?" she demands to know as he hurries in.

He gets where he can see the computer and stiffen. "Oh my God," he mumbles.

"Yeah, I don't think ANY God had ANYTHING to do with that!"

"Those images of torture and pain would be used to help the leader get more control of his followers. Garcia, is there a way to see if those images were set to be delivered in a certain pattern? You know, subliminally?"

Garcia nods. "Definitely," she answers as she starts to type, glad to have Reid's reassuring presence while she dives into the darkness.

They are still working together when Reid hears JJ call Hotch about the person alive in hut 11.

"Oh, no," he murmurs, his hand going to his earpiece.

"What?" Garcia asks. She waits a moment. "Reid! Tell me what this is about!"

"Apparently someone is in hut 11. JJ just called for backup."

Garcia leaps up. "Let's go!"

"Garcia, you're not an agent. You're not even armed," Reid points out.

"And my best friend could be in danger. Let's go or I leave without you," she warns as she walks out the door.

* * *

Seeing the fear in the boy's face reaches Emily in a way nothing else has. She eases her gun from his face and holsters it. She stands and pulls the boy up with her.

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"I just wanted to see Rain. But they died because I disobeyed."

Emily studies the boy's eyes. He's not on drugs. It looks more like he is dehydrated, possibly hungry, and definitely exhausted. She eases her grip on his jacket.

"You need medical help. After that we can talk more. You're not the reason everyone is dead, kid. Just…calm down and let these agents help you."

She pushes him towards Hotch and Rossi. They each take an arm of the boy and walk him towards the office building, hoping to find him something to eat and drink, then get answers.

Emily then turns and pulls JJ into a hug. "Fuck, Jen."

"I'm okay. Just got the wind knocked out of me. I swear."

"You're going to the hospital, Jen. We need to make sure the babies are okay. You need an ultrasound."

JJ just nods and eases out the hug. "I know but I am okay. I went with the hit to minimize the impact. And I am sure the babies are okay." She undoes her jacket, revealing her Kevlar vest. "It took the brunt of his hit."

Emily gives her a small smile. "You wore your vest?"

JJ nods, smiling. "Don't leave home without it. Especially since your Dad got me the baby bump extension for Christmas."

Emily runs her hand over the piece that attaches to the vest to make sure the swell of the twins is covered. "I thought he was nuts," she admits.

"I didn't. I always knew I'd wear it if I was out in the field. I don't care how uncomfortable it is I'll always wear it if there is ANY chance the babies could be in danger."

Emily frames JJ's face and kisses her wife. "I love you, Jen. Thank you for doing all you do to care for our children."

JJ smiles. "My pleasure, Emily."

"JAYJE!"

The women turn as they see Reid and Garcia racing towards them. She puts up her hands.

"I'm fine. I swear."

"The babies?" Garcia demands to know.

"I'll take a trip into Socorro to make sure but I am pretty sure they are fine," she assures them.

Emily takes JJ's hand. "Come on, honey, let's get you to the hospital. It will ease all our minds."

"Definitely. I have a lot of stats going through my mind that will only be banished by an official doctor's report," Reid admits.

"JJ! EMILY!"

The women turn to see Morgan racing towards them. JJ again puts up her hands to stop the run.

"I'm fine. Promise. Going to the doctor to make sure the babies are okay."

"The babies? What are you talking about? What happened to them?" Morgan asks, both shocked and confused.

"You didn't know?"

"Know what? I got so far out of rang my earpiece kept beeping so I took it out. I came to see what you all found and tell you what I discovered. What the fuck did I miss?"

Emily chuckles and puts an arm around his shoulder. "Oh, just JJ playing linebacker with a teenager who seems to think he's the reason everyone is dead."

"Linebacker? Teenager? What the…you tackled him?" he says, anger in his eyes.

"Uh, actually it was more like I was a quarterback and got sacked." She tells him what happened.

Morgan takes her hand. "But you are okay? You're sure? All three of you?"

"I believe so but we'll go make sure."

"Right. Go. Just…go. What I found can wait until you get back. It's just a theory so we'll have to see."

Emily studies him. "Derek…what's wrong?"

He looks at his best friend, his mind picturing the little girl that will haunt him for a while. "Just…something…but nothing. Look, just get JJ to the doctor. I'll talk to you about…stuff later. Swear."

Emily slowly nods. "I'll hold you to that, buddy."

He just nods as they make their way back to the community hall. Garcia and Reid head inside to see what Rossi and Hotch have gotten from the teenager. Emily and JJ get into one of the SUV's and drive out of the commune, lights and sirens going…despite JJ saying repeatedly they are NOT necessary. Morgan watches them go, the feeling of unease in his stomach not abating.

* * *

Rossi hands the boy a bag of cookies he got from one of the cops as Hotch hands him a bottle of water. The boy stares at the cookies a second then looks at Rossi.

"Skinny says we shouldn't eat processed foods like these."

Rossi pats him on the shoulder. "I don't think he'd mind this one time, kid."

The boy looks at the packet again, his mind at war with his stomach. His stomach wins and he eats them quickly then downs the whole bottle of water. Hotch pulls over a chair and sits down in front of him.

"Can you tell me your name?"

The boy nods, fear in his eyes. "Wynn Station."

"Hi, Wynn. My name is Agent Hotchner but everyone calls me Hotch. Can you tell me what you meant when you told Agent Prentiss everyone is dead because of you?"

Wynn's face flushes. He stares at his feet. "Rain and me were seeing each other. We weren't supposed to because unless the Harrow's okay your coupling you aren't supposed to be with another." He looks up at Hotch. "But Rain and I were really in love! We didn't want to wait another 2 years to start dating. So we'd…we'd sometimes sneak away to this old hunters cabin some of us found one time. We made sure the Harrow's didn't know about it because it was the only place we had a say in anything."

Hotch nods. "I understand. I had a place like that when I was a teen, too. Tell me, Wynn, who are the Harrow's?"

Wynn seems to relax since Hotch isn't getting mad. And he also appears glad to be able to tell someone about the Harrow's. "They say they are brother and sister but, well, a couple kids saw them kissing one time and not the way a brother and sister kiss. They came about 4 years ago and at first they were like everyone else. They'd work the fields, he did some art stuff, and she'd cook. Then they started talking about how the outside world could never understand a place like ours. They said we had to be ready to defend our way of life from the storm troopers the government would send to destroy our farm."

Hotch and Rossi exchange a look. These "siblings" had slowly inserted a paranoid doctrine into the everyday life of the commune. No longer were the people working for a better place to live; they were working to defend their lives. Rossi tosses a pack of peanut butter crackers on the table. The boy grabs them and eats as he continues to talk.

"So some of the older folks started to buy guns and put them in the bunker. We stored food and stuff there, too. Even money though I figured if the world went to hell who would use money?"

"Who indeed," Rossi mutters as a new theory starts to form in his head.

"And then couple years ago they said we were too spread out. We'd never be able to arm ourselves and repel intruders if we weren't close together. So they had Skinny order the dorms for us and helped him divide up where everyone was sleeping. They even split up husbands and wives because they said we could then control how many kids there were so we wouldn't overpopulate our lands."

"Did that work?" Hotch asks.

"Some. I still think a few kids weren't planned but that's okay. They were all loved no matter what."

"That's good," Hotch replies, while figuring the Harrows wanted fewer mouths to feed and fewer reasons for parents to doubt the final solution. Fewer mouths also meant more money.

Rossi sits down in an adjacent chair. "Tell me, Wynn, what happened to those that didn't like what the Harrows had to say?"

Wynn frowns as he finishes off his last cracker. "Well, I guess they'd just leave. I know Avery Bennett hated the Harrrow's. One day he was gone. His wife and kids were still here, though." His face falls. "I guess…I guess they are dead now, too." Suddenly the enormity of what has happened hits the boy. He bursts into tears. "Where's my mom? Oh, God, where's my mom?"

Hotch pulls the boy into a hug as he sobs. "It's going to be okay, Wynn. Everything will be okay," he whispers even as he knows nothing will ever be the same again for the young man.

Hotch looks at Rossi, who just nods. They would get nothing more from Wynn right now. Rossi stands and leaves the two, knowing Hotch will help the boy start to come to grips with a world in which his mother's life was stolen.

"Garcia, let's try to find these Harrow's," Rossi orders.

Garcia nods. "Okay. But if they are in here they are either behind the wall Kevin and I are trying to crack or they are in the written documents Reid is trying to find."

"Written documents?"

"The secretary was old school. If she kept notes they aren't on her computer."

"Good to know. I'll be with Reid. You and Kevin keep hacking away at that firewall."

"Yes, sir," Garcia says as he goes to help Reid find the records they need.

* * *

Morgan had not entered the community center with the others. He paces a bit, trying to get the image of the little girl out of his mind and trying not to let worry for JJ overcome him. He takes a deep breath.

"Get it together, Morgan. Just…get it together."

When self-encouragement doesn't help, he tries scolding. That doesn't work either. Finally he pulls out his phone and hits the speed dial for Chateau Prentiss. The phone is answered on the second ring by a frightened Alan Jareau.

"Derek? What's wrong?"

"Nothing. I mean something. I mean probably nothing. I mean…shit." He takes a deep breath. "JJ and Emily are fine. Mostly. I mean probably. I mean…crap I've fucked this up."

"Derek, take it easy, son," Alan tells him calmly, hoping to settle the agent. "Run it down from the beginning."

Morgan takes another deep breath then leans against the wall of the building. He tells Alan about the little girl he can't stop seeing in his head.

"She looked…so much like Rocky. I just…I need…"

"Hold on a second, Derek. Rocky, I think Uncle Morgan needs a long distance hug and kiss."

There is the sound of little running feet then: "Hi, 'Gan! Love 'Gan!"

Morgan smiles, a feeling of warmth spreading over him. "Hey, sweet girl. I love you, too. Are you being good for Grandma and Grandpa?"

"Si. Rock good. No climb. No boom. Good girl. Cookie!"

He smiles. "If it were up to me I'd send you a truck full of cookies, little one."

She starts to babble some more. He can make out Sug (Sergio), Ska, Pa, Ma, Mama, Mommy and his favorite…'Gan. Rocky is alive. She is alive and okay and safe at home with her grandparents. When she pauses in her speech, he just smiles.

"You have such a fun life, Rocky. You make me so happy."

"Love 'Gan."

"I love you, too," he reiterates. "Are you having fun with Fred and Bill?" he asks about her Christmas toys.

"Si! BARK! BARK! NEEEEIGGGHHH!"

He laughs as she makes the sounds just like her favorite activity center. "Good girl! You sure know your animal sounds. But I forget, what does a cat say?"

"MEEEE-OOOWWWWW!" she drawls out.

He smiles. "Great! I knew you could answer that for me."

He continues to talk to her for 5 more minutes until the sick feeling in his stomach has gone away. Lucky for him it is around the same time she has decided she is done talking.

"Cookie, 'Gan. Bye!"

"Bye, Rocky."

"Derek?"

"I'm here, Alan. Guess it's snack time?"

"She thinks so," Alan answers with a laugh.

"Well I say she deserves a cookie. Maybe two." He takes a deep breath. "Thank you, Alan. I really needed to hear her happy little voice."

"No problem, Derek. Sandy's phone just rang with JJ's tone. I'm thinking we're getting a report from her or Emily."

"Most likely. I'll let you get to that. You all take care."

"You, too, Derek. Be safe."

"That's the plan. And I promise, Alan, we'll make sure JJ stays safe."

"Of that I have no doubt. Goodbye, Derek."

"Bye, Alan."

Morgan hangs up and pockets his phone. Yes, he was more settled. Time to go find out what that kid had said and to let the others know about what he found that gives him an idea how everyone died so peacefully.

* * *

Rossi steps into the office where Reid is making some notes on a chalkboard. He walks over to the younger agent and reads what is up there.

"Subliminal messages?"

Reid nods. "Garcia and Kevin have found a cyberfortress, she called it. The first wall was a series of images set up to be delivered subliminally to whoever is using the computer. This coincides with a room I found in the arts and crafts building that contains works that are all meant to instill fear, revulsion and, in the end, obedience to a master."

"And with a good number of people here working these systems our suspects had a pool of people ready to spread their message unwittingly," Rossi concludes with a nod.

"Exactly. You said suspects?"

"Yep. Kid talked about a supposed brother and sister named Harrow. But either they were a creepy close family or they weren't brother and sister."

"How long have they been here?"

"Four years."

"Wow."

"Yep. Kid mentioned a guy that resisted them. One day he was just gone and suddenly his wife and kids were toeing the party line."

Reid looks up sharply from what he had been writing. "Wife and kids…" he repeats softly.

"Yeah. That mean something to you?"

Reid nods. "Scarily, yes it does." He tells Rossi about the painting depicting a woman and 2 kids standing around a dead or injured man. "They may have killed him in front of the family to make them more submissive."

Rossi frowns. "But most mothers wouldn't just let their kids watch that happen. More likely they killed him then let his family find him. Bet they made it look like a killing by the phantom menace they'd been warning about."

"Probably," Reid agrees. "Oh, and nice Star Wars reference, Rossi."

Rossi looks at him in confusion. "What Star Wars reference?"

Reid chuckles. "Uh, never mind."

"What's all this?" Morgan asks walking in.

"Just some notes I wanted everyone to see," Reid says. "You okay?"

Morgan nods. "Definitely. Just had to make a call and clear my head."

"Good," Rossi says. "What did you find?"

"I'd say the houses have been gone close to 2 years. Even the copper from the electric systems are gone. Going to see if Garcia can find recyclers in the area who may remember large amounts being cashed in. But coming back from that I found something that I think tells us why everyone just seemed to go to sleep."

"What?" Rossi asks, eager for an answer to the question bugging them all.

"I saw a strip of duct tape near a vent. I took a closer look and there is residue on the vent. These vents are right near gas-powered generators. What if they started the generators and pumped the carbon monoxide right into the huts."

"You know, there were gas space heaters in the huts I was in. Make sure those are improperly vented and they'd add to the CO fumes," Rossi notes. "The few that got up probably woke to go the bathroom or woke and realized something is wrong. They fell when they were overcome by the fumes." He nods as a theory takes shape. "In one hut a teenager had his shoes on the wrong feet. Bet he woke, was disoriented but knew something was wrong, shoves his feet into shoes trying to get out but…but it was too late for him."

"Or the killers made sure he couldn't get out," Morgan points out. "They needed everyone to die that night. Then they had to stage everyone where they wanted them. I bet we'll find those in the community center are the closest confidantes of Pines. Would lend credence to him ordering a mass suicide."

"True," Reid nods. "And they would need more than 2 people. As soon as the kid is able he needs to start looking at photos and identifying remains. He'll also have to tell us who isn't here."

Rossi slowly shakes his head. "That's going to be tough. He's fine one minute then overwhelmed the next. Hotch is working with him but, well, Wynn may not be able to get us information in time. We need family, former members, or someone else to step forward to help."

"Press conference?" Morgan asks.

"Yes. But not today. The coroner has help coming in from 3 other states to help with the recovery process which will take all night. Let the press run with what they have for now and leave the M.E.'s office alone. Once the bodies are gone we'll hold a conference to deflect attention from them a little longer," Rossi says.

"We still need to check out the community center and find out what Emily saw in the class hut," Reid points out. "Let's get all our ducks in a row before we get a lot of questions we can't answer."

"Good idea," Rossi agrees. "And nice hunting reference."

Reid frowns in confusion. "What hunting reference?"

Rossi just chuckles as he walks away. Leave it to the genius to not know the origin of "ducks in row" meaning one shot could take out a number of fowl at one time.*

* * *

***A/N: There are several suspected origins of this phrase. This particular one just worked for the funny, mirror-exchange between Reid and Rossi (Star Wars/Hunting). I know. I'm weird. But the thought amused me. :o)**


	5. Chapter 5

Emily holds JJ's hand as they wait for the on-call OB to come see them. The blonde is in a hospital gown with several monitors hooked up to her to track her vitals as well as the vitals for the babies. Emily studies the readouts.

"Everything looks really good, Jen. And God knows how often I had all this shit attached to me while I was carrying Rocky. As long as nothing is wrong inside we should be fine."

"We?" JJ teases.

Emily grins. "Well, you three will be healthy and I won't be losing my shit so, yes, we."

JJ lifts her wife's hand and gives it a kiss. "We it is then, Mrs. Prentiss."

"Good. So your parents were okay?"

"Yes. I hated that Dad had already heard from Morgan."

Emily frowns. "Did he say why Morgan called?"

"Said he needed to talk to Rocky because of something he saw in one of the huts. Mom didn't know the full story."

Before Emily can ask anything else a nurse walks in. "Hello, Mrs. Prentiss. Let me just get a little more information from you. The doctor will be in momentarily."

"Good," JJ replies. "I'm eager to make sure the babies are okay."

"I imagine you are. Now, it says you're married. Do you need me to call your husband for you to let him know you are here?"

JJ raises an eyebrow. "Uh, no, ma'am. This is Emily Prentiss, my wife."

The woman's friendly demeanor immediately flips. Emily would later swear the temperature in the room dropped 20 degrees.

"Oh. I see. We don't approve of that here in New Mexico. We're God-fearing people."

JJ squeezes Emily's hand hard, trying to stop the brunette. It doesn't work. Emily lets go of her wife's hand and steps around the bed, putting herself between JJ and the nurse.

"Get the hell out and send in someone who isn't an ignorant bigot. Our God believes in love in all its beauty and doesn't approve of those who use His name to spread hate and intolerance."

The woman straightens up…and still barely reaches Emily's shoulder. "You aren't in charge here."

"Get. Out. Or I throw you out," Emily warns.

"Emily…calm down," JJ says.

Just in time to stop an all out rumble, the doctor walks in. He immediately takes in the tense situation.

"What's going on here, McEnroe?"

"I'll tell you," Emily answers. "This woman walks in and starts to insult my _wife_ and I. I want a new nurse, preferably one without her head firmly tucked up her ass." Emily had stressed the word wife, practically daring the woman to say something.

The nurse looks at the doctor. "They claim to be married," she says in a disgusted whisper.

"We ARE married. Legally," Emily informs her.

The doctor sighs. JJ can tell he's had this issue come up before with this nurse. "McEnroe, you were warned about this. Can you go get Shaw, please? And expect me to inform your supervisor about this. Again."

McEnroe shoves her paperwork at the doctor and storms out. The man turns to the agents. "I'm sorry. She's been warned about this before. If she's suspended for the night expect her to try to pass you some pamphlets in the parking lot."

"Then expect to have to surgically remove them from her- -"

"EMILY!" JJ interrupts. "It's okay, Doctor. But another nurse is appreciated."

"No problem. As soon as Shaw gets here we can get things rolling. Come to think of it, I better go make sure she notified Shaw. Be back in a moment."

He turns and walks out. Emily walks back over and takes JJ's hand again. JJ strokes her wife's cheek.

"Why do I think that if we hooked you up to one of these BP monitors it would explode?"

Emily manages a small smile. "Because it probably would." She takes a deep breath. "Until he says all 3 of you are okay my BP isn't coming down." She leans forward, her forehead on JJ's. "I love you so much. All 3 of you. When I saw that kid knock you down and saw him kick at you I…I…" she just shakes her head.

"I know, Em. But I'm okay. I went around that corner blindly. That's on me. I made a wrong assumption about where the suspect would be running to. As to kicking at me, he was just scared. I'll bet you he didn't even register he was doing it."

"Probably not."

The two just remain close and silent for a few minutes until the doctor returns with a new nurse. The nurse smiles at the ladies.

"Sorry you got to meet McEnroe. She's a bit of a…a…well, she's just not exactly a people person."

"Not much of a person," Emily mumbles.

Shaw grins. "That, too. So, just to confirm, you are in your 21st week?"

JJ nods. "Yes."

"No health problems? No cramping, bleeding, anything like that?"

JJ shakes her head. "Nope. Just weird cravings and a need to go to bathroom more than my last pregnancy."

Shaw grins. "Less room for 2 babies and a bladder. It will only get worse."

"Ugh. I know," JJ agrees, as Emily just smiles, calming a little due to the nurses' friendly demeanor.

"Right. We've already checked your urine sample. All was fine there. Now Dr. Pepper, here, will do your ultra sound."

JJ grins. "Dr. Pepper? Really?"

The doctor rolls her eyes. "It's Salt, actually. The nurses just like to make fun of me in various ways."

JJ laughs. "Ah. Right. I can imagine doing the same. Well, how about you take a look at the babies so my wife's blood pressure can return to normal?"

The doctor nods as Shaw pulls over the ultra sound machine. Within minutes he is slowly moving the transducer over JJ's stomach and looking at the same screen the Prentiss women watch.

"Strong heartbeats," he says, as Shaw makes notes each time he speaks. "Placenta looks strong. Umbilical cord of this son is well attached. The umbil- -"

His words break off as JJ's BP monitor goes nuts. He looks up to see the wide-eyed looks of both women. He blushes.

"Oh, crap…you didn't know the sexes yet?" Emily just shakes her head, as JJ stares at the doctor. "Oh. Uh, shit. Umm…how do…uh, I'll just…"

JJ slowly turns and looks at Emily. "Em?" Emily looks at her wife, tears in her eyes and just nods in answer to the unasked question. JJ turns back to Salt. "A son and a…?"

Salt swallows in relief. He puts the transducer back down and maneuvers it until he can see the other baby. He smiles.

"Now, keep in mind, it's harder to see with twins sometimes but from what I can tell you have a healthy son and a healthy daughter."

Both women sob. Emily pulls JJ closer, kissing her temple. "One of each, Jen. Oh, honey, I won't get them mixed up!"

JJ starts to laugh through her tears. "I _knew_ that was a worry you had!"

"Oh, definitely. Oh, wow…one of each. Oh, wow."

"Again, make sure to get with your regular physician. When is your next appointment?"

JJ frowns. "Oh, uh, tomorrow actually. I think I better call her and let her know where we are. Can we get copies of all this sent to her?"

Salt nods. "Of course. Shaw can get her information from you."

"Good. So, um, they are okay? Totally okay?"

Salt nods. "Everything I can see says they are just fine. Might want to rest and keep your feet up for a day or two to be safe since your stress is their stress but other than that everything is good."

"Oh, thank God," Emily breathes, feeling her blood pressure go down. "She'll rest, Doc. Promise."

"Good. If you do suddenly develop any problems, come on back and we'll check you out again. Sound good?"

"Sounds perfect," JJ agrees.

"Good." He shakes both women's hands. "Shaw can help you clean up and get ready to go. Take care, ladies."

After he leaves Emily looks at JJ. "I'll call the guys and your parents. I won't tell them about the sexes but I can at least put their minds at ease."

JJ nods. "Okay. I'll be ready by the time you get back."

Emily steps into the hall and calls Morgan first. "Hey, buddy."

"She okay?"

"She's fine. Let the team know. If you all want us to bring back dinner text me what it should be."

"You got it, Em. Thanks for calling."

"And expect a talk about why you had to speak with Rocky. I'm worried about you."

Morgan smiles. "No need to be. But I'll talk anyway. Thanks, Em."

"No problem. Let me call Sandy and Alan now."

After assuring the Jareau's that all was fine, Emily goes back to her wife's room. She smiles as she sees JJ is ready.

"All set, gorgeous?"

"Lead the way, beautiful," JJ answers.

So hand in hand, the two ladies leave the hospital. Glad the twins are okay…and ELATED to know they were most likely having a boy and a girl.


	6. Chapter 6

After the Chinese food has been passed around and people are eating, Hotch hitches his leg up on the desk in the room and looks at his team.

"To catch Prentiss and JJ up: the rest of us minus Garcia went to check out the community center bodies. We all noticed something there that had been common in the dorms."

"The bodies had been moved," Emily states.

Hotch is surprised. "Uh, yes."

"The teachers had been moved, too. That seemed strange to me so I checked out the community center just to see if I saw the same thing there since I only had 3 bodies to look at in the classroom," Emily explains.

Hotch nods. "Then it's official that we saw it everywhere. Which leads to the question why were some moved to the community hall or where they worked and others just resituated in their dorms?"

Rossi leans forward. "Morgan's guess is the ones with Pines are his closest followers. By putting them in there it looks like they were all there to hear the final words of their leader."

Reid nods. "I agree. I think the better question is why were some left where they fell while others were put back in their beds?"

"Maybe the ones put in beds were in the way when the Harrows were moving the bodies they wanted in the community center," Morgan theorizes.

JJ slowly shakes her head. "I don't think so. Some were left in walkways."

"But if the bodies they wanted were closer to the door than the one on the floor that holds up," Morgan counters, to which JJ nods in concession.

"What's with the note about subliminal messages?" Emily asks.

Garcia groans. "Ugh. Those things. I cracked the first firewall to a cyber fortress then Kevin helped me crack the second. Think of it as a place to store several programs you want launched at certain times in a certain computer. The first wall hid all sorts of horrible images that would flash on the screen in split second intervals slowly brainwashing the user."

"Based on the interval, they could launch them whenever they wanted on that particular computer," Reid says. "The second phase had even worse images of pain and torture, mixed in with images of governments oppressing the people."

"All imprinting their doctrine to the users' subconscious until it becomes second nature for that person to believe those things," Emily finishes. "So if they had some people on their side, why kill everyone?"

"Did they?" Morgan counters. "We have more beds than people. Final count was 198 dead, well beyond the initial estimate of 100-150. But we have beds for 240. Maybe the Harrows and some of their followers are still out there."

Rossi suddenly looks at Hotch. "Still out there…holy shit, Hotch, something the kid said: he mentioned them stocking a bunker. There could be people other than Wynn alive here."

"And those people could have guns and be paranoid about the government coming to get them," Hotch says as he stands. "Garcia, we need daylight, aerial views of the commune."

Garcia sets her Kung Pao Veggies down and starts to type. "Okay, I have satellite images from two weeks ago, two months ago and…and 4 days ago. What am I looking for?"

"Any people way away from the main commune but not near any of the fields where crops are planted?" JJ asks.

Emily scoots closer to Garcia to help her scan the images. The two women study them for a few minutes. Finally Emily points.

"There. Garcia, save that image."

Garcia clicks a couple of keys. "Okay."

"Also, people hauling loads of things. Maybe in their hands or in a pick up or something, again away from the main compound," Morgan continues.

"Okay. Oh, there's more people in a weird area." Garcia saves that image.

"Look at this one, Garcia," Emily says. "Does that look like some sort of wagon there?"

Garcia squints. "Maybe. We'll save it to blow up and look at it later."

"Good plan."

The two women save several more images to look at on a larger screen at some point. Emily looks at Hotch.

"Do the TV's in the RV's have computer hook up?"

"What RV's?" Garcia, Rossi, Reid and Morgan all ask.

Emily grimaces as Hotch glowers at her. He turns to the others.

"The media spotlight will be ridiculous. To minimize their ability to focus on the FBI dealing with a commune mass suicide I decided to order in RV's so we can stay onsite rather than at a hotel in Socorro. Once the coroner's office finishes with body retrieval we'll make a statement to keep attention off of them and on us so they can work in peace. Additionally, that will keep the eyes out here rather than causing disruption in Socorro that could lead to the media turning it into an FBI siege of a small town."

Rossi looks at Emily. "And how did you get the heads up on this?"

"Derringer accidentally spilled the beans. I told Jen on the way back from the hospital in case she wanted to lie down," Emily admits.

Rossi looks back at Hotch. "Can I assume there isn't one for each of us?"

"Am I really that bad a roommate?" Hotch asks. "I promise not to listen to your ooey gooey love talk with Straus tonight."

Everyone bursts out laughing as Rossi just glares at their leader. He lets out a string of Italian. JJ and Emily both wag their fingers at him.

"Bad words, Rossi. Time out," they say simultaneously, sparking another round of laughter at the oldest agent's expense.

Rossi slowly stands. "I hate all of you right now."

After the laughter eases, JJ looks at Hotch. "What about the kid?"

"Wynn Station is his name. He was scared everyone died because he disobeyed the Harrows. He is staying with a psychologist who works with the police. He'll know what to ask Wynn and when to ask it. And he'll come back here with him tomorrow if he feels Wynn is at a point he can help us on scene but let's not expect anything more from the youngster. For now, Garcia, put a search in looking for instances when a brother-sister duo or even a couple may have scammed a large group of people. Open cases only, nationally only for now. If that doesn't turn up anything, go out internationally with that search."

"Got it, sir."

Emily sighs and looks at Hotch. "If the international search shows promise we'll need to diplomatically approach that government for assistance and for additional information. That may take an in person meeting. I volunteer…" JJ looks sharply at her wife. Emily takes a deep breath. "…Rossi for the job. Because I swear, Aaron Hotchner, if you send me off again I will pay Garcia to do something so horribly nasty to you your great-great grandkids will still be feeling the effects of it."

Everyone laughs as JJ pulls her wife into a hug. She looks at Rossi. "And I'll do the same to you if you say no."

Hotch grins. "Noted. Rossi it is."

Rossi smiles and nods. "Who am I to argue with such a sweet request?" he winks at JJ.

Hotch then looks at Reid. "What're your thoughts on the secretary's notes?"

Reid shrugs. "I've looked everywhere here. She may have kept them in her dorm but until we know who she is there is no way to check. We may come across them tomorrow once we can get back into the dorms."

"Okay. Garcia, how close are you and Kevin to getting through the next firewall?"

"I have a program running all night to try to figure out the coding for it. Whoever these freaks are, they are definitely skilled computer hackers."

Hotch nods. "Good to know. Add that to your search for like crimes."

"Already done, sir."

He grins. "Of course it is. So, is there anything else we can do tonight?" No one seems to have anything. "Okay then lets finish dinner. RV's have satellite so go watch something mindless and relax. We'll have a long day tomorrow. Emily, Morgan, check out those potential bunker sites. The rest of us will start with the dorms as they are cleared. Garcia, keep working on that firewall. If you need anything let us know. Questions?" No one has any. "Good. Now turn it off and pass me the egg rolls."

JJ smiles and does just what he asks.

* * *

When Emily, JJ and Garcia get to the RV they will be sharing, Garcia grins at them. "So, Jayje, should I bunk with Emily so you have plenty of room for your growing babies?"

JJ smiles. "Sweet offer, Pen, but I think I'll risk being cramped." She wraps her arms around Emily. "Only had her back in my arms for a few days so I'm not quite tired of her yet."

Emily smiles. "Good to know." She gives JJ a kiss. "Before we head to bed I need to track Morgan down. I want to make sure his head is okay before he spends all night awake worrying about something or other."

JJ nods. "Okay. I'll just cuddle with Garcia and watch some mindless TV for a while."

"Good plan," Emily agrees. "See you in a bit."

She heads back out and goes over to the RV Morgan and Reid will be sharing. She is about to knock when Morgan's voice reaches her ear.

"I knew you were coming."

She walks forward and sees him staring up at the clear night sky, only the steam from his own breath blocking the view of the stars. Emily walks over and stands beside him, also staring up. They stand that way for a few minutes before Morgan finally speaks and starts to walk, Emily walking with him.

"In hut 12 I was looking at one of the women that was in a bed. When I turned away from her I saw the little girl in the next bed. She was cuddled up with a doll, her dark, curly hair splayed out on the pillow as she slept on her side." He takes a deep breath. "She even had Rocky's nose, Em."

"Son of a bitch," Emily mutters, thankful her wife hadn't entered that hut.

"Yeah. This whole place is…it just…" he shakes his head. It defies definition. "But to see that little girl…it threw me for a loop, Emily. I couldn't shake her face from my mind. And then I heard what happened to JJ and my heart just…just froze."

Emily reaches over and takes his hand. "Did you get to talk to Rocky?"

He smiles. "Yeah, I did. She gave me a rundown of what everyone at Chateau Prentiss has done today, including a couple times Sergio took a bath."

Emily chuckles. "Yeah, he's her buddy so she notes those things."

Morgan nods. "So cute. I just don't understand how someone can kill kids on any given day but to do all this," he gestures towards the dorms, where several medical examiners and their staffs work to remove all the bodies, "is just beyond me. Men, women, children…fuck, even the animals. It's just beyond me," he repeats. He thinks a moment. "Most days I can compartmentalize it and go on. But that little girl knocked me off my game. When I got back to the main campus I should have put my earpiece in and I didn't. JJ could have paid for that mistake."

Emily turns him and stares into his eyes. "Stop it, Derek. Stop it right now. No second guessing our actions. Ever. You know that. As to what happened to Jen, she will tell you what she told me: she just assumed the kid would run towards the back of the building to disappear into the woods and stuff back there. She didn't pause before hurrying around the corner, planning to tell Hotch and Rossi where the kid went. Instead he barreled into her. She knows she screwed up, Morgan. You being there wouldn't have changed that since you would have been with Hotch and Rossi at the bathroom and not out front with Jen. You know that in your head. Get your heart to believe it."

He stares into Emily's eyes, seeing the honesty and compassion. He slowly nods. "Yeah…yeah, I see what you mean."

"As to the little girl…do right by her from this point on. Someone wronged her in a horrible, horrible way." She pokes him in the chest. "You are the one that can get justice for her but not if you let your emotions cloud your actions." He just nods. "And finally…thank you for loving my daughter the way you do. Knowing that just seeing a little girl that looks like her can affect you this way tells me we picked the right man to be her Godfather. You're smart, brave, and loving, Derek Morgan. Use those things to get justice for that little girl and continue to be the man I want my daughter to judge all her future boyfriends against."

He chuckles. "Wow…no pressure."

Emily smiles. "Not at all. You going to be okay?"

He nods and turns back towards the RV's. She falls in step with him. "Yeah, I will be."

They walk in companionable silence back to the RV Emily is sharing with JJ and Garcia.

"Sleep well, Em."

"You, too, Derek. If you need anything, you know where I am."

He nods. "I'll be okay. See you in the morning."

"Goodnight, Derek."

After she closes the door, Morgan slowly walks over to the RV he shares with Reid. When he walks in Reid looks up at him.

"You okay?"

Morgan gives him a genuine smile. "Yeah, I am now. Just had to clear my head."

"Okay. There's an old 'Godzilla' movie on the classic movies channel. Want to watch it?"

Morgan chuckles. "I haven't seen one of those since I was a kid. Yeah, let's watch it."

Reid nods. "Good. I don't really want to think too much tonight."

Morgan pats him on the shoulder. "I hear that."

The two men settle down to watch the old, cheesy horror movie and forget about the true horror just outside their temporary home.

* * *

When Emily gets into the RV she sees Garcia is on the bed midway back obviously talking to Stephanie. She moves past her to the room in the very back where JJ lies on the queen bed reading. She sets her book aside as Emily walks in.

"Morgan okay?"

"Yep." Emily crawls onto the bed beside her wife and tells her about the little girl. Emily sighs. "My heart stopped just at the thought of her looking like Roxanne," she finishes in an emotional whisper.

JJ runs her fingers through Emily's hair. "I know the feeling. Makes me ill to think about. But it's not her, Em. You made him believe that, right?"

Emily smiles. "I think Rocky did that. I just reiterated it." She runs her hand over the baby bump. "Still feel okay?" she asks, changing the subject.

"I feel fine. Promise. You know, we never did figure out first names."

Emily looks up at her. "I was thinking…for a boy…what about Lucas?"

"Like my affair?" JJ teases.

Emily grins. "Not Luciano. But his name kind of inspired me. Lucas Didier Prentiss. I just like the ring of it."

JJ slowly nods. "You know, I do too."

"Yeah?"

JJ smiles. "Yeah."

Emily crawls up and gives her wife a kiss. "Excellent. And you know, if Dr. Salt was wrong and it's two boys we could name the other one George."

JJ starts to laugh as she rolls her eyes. "We are not naming our children after the creator of Star Wars, my nerdling."

Emily grins and shrugs. "Can't blame a girl for trying."

"Right. Come on, sounds like Pen is off the phone. Saw a movie coming on I think we can all enjoy, especially you."

"One of the Star Wars movies?" Emily asks excitedly.

"No, but still fun. Come on."

A few minutes later Emily does, in fact agree that the movie is perfect. She loves the old Godzilla movies!


	7. Chapter 7

The next morning JJ's blood pressure is a little high so she decides to stay in the office with Garcia and start to weed through facial recognition hits and any positive i.d.'s from the medical examiner's office. After a breakfast brought to them by Derringer, the team splits up to start to profile more of the commune itself and to try to find the mystery bunker.

As Morgan drives, Emily studies the photos they had printed out and downloaded. She watches the terrain so they can find a good place to leave the SUV. "Good" means it is hidden yet easily accessible if they have to run from paranoid cult members.

"Morgan, back in by those trees there," she says pointing. "First place to check is just around that bend."

Morgan nods and parks where she suggests. As they get out he looks at his partner.

"Vest on?"

"Hell yeah," she answers.

"Good."

Both had their winter coats on over the vests. In an attempt to look less threatening, their guns are in their pockets instead of on their hips. Emily takes a deep breath.

"Ready?"

Morgan nods. "I am. Are you?"

"Oh, sure. I have a great track record with doomsday cults. Piece of cake."

Morgan smiles. "At least this time you're going into it expecting the worst. That helps, right?"

"Hmmm," Emily pretends to think a minute. "Nope, not a damn bit," she answers with a grin.

The two agents start towards the rocks that could hide the bunker. They ease around it slowly, carefully scanning the whole area for signs of an entrance or signs of people. Emily kneels down.

"I don't see any recent tracks. No footprints, no wheel ruts. Nothing."

"Me neither. But is that a cave?"

Emily looks where he is pointing. She shrugs. "Either a cave or just a hollow where several rocks came together."

The two carefully approach the opening. Morgan glances in and sees it ends just a few feet back.

"A hollow," he states.

Emily again walks around, scanning the ground. "Still no footprints. There's nothing here."

Morgan nods. "I agree. Let's head to the second possibility."

The two walk back to the SUV. Suddenly Emily notices a glint of light up on the nearby hillside. She looks out of the corner of her eye, trying not to alert whoever is up there of her scrutiny.

"Morgan…"

"I saw it, too. One person?"

"Looks like," Emily agrees.

"Okay, I'll drive us around the bend, get out and go up above them on this side, then come down behind them."

"And I'll make my way back on foot to see what they do when we're gone."

The agents get in the SUV. As Morgan drives, Emily calls Hotch to let him know what they are doing.

"Be careful. Both of you," he cautions.

"Always, Hotch," Emily assures him.

"Right," Hotch says doubtfully.

Once the SUV is parked, the agents split up. When Emily gets back to the bend, she carefully peers around and looks up into the hills. Through her binoculars she sees a man with a small knapsack, binoculars around his neck, picking his way over the hill. She grinds her teeth together.

"Reporter," she concludes angrily. "Wasting our fucking time, you prick."

She watches as Morgan slowly picks his way down to the man. Once she knows Morgan can corral him, Emily steps out where she will be seen.

"FBI! YOU'RE TREPASSING! FREEZE!"

The man stares at her, stunned. He turns to try to run away from her…and runs right into Morgan's arms.

"I believe the agent said 'freeze'," Morgan reiterates. "You're under arrest for trespassing while we try to determine if you have anything to do with what happened here."

"No! I didn't! I just wanted the story!" the man says.

"Prove it. In the meantime, you have the right to remain silent…"

The man doesn't utilize that right as Morgan cuffs him, pats him down, then marches him down to Emily, who is on the phone.

"Thanks, Hotch." She pockets her phone. "Derringer and one of his deputies are coming to take custody of the prisoner. Rossi will question him and he'll be held as an accessory to murder until we determine otherwise."

"What?! NO! I swear, I'm just a reporter!"

"A good ruse to get us to trust you and let you go. You could well be the one that killed these people," Emily states. She shrugs. "Time will tell. If nothing else, you're wasting valuable time with your trespassing."

The man continues to complain for the 10 minutes it takes Derringer to arrive. He complains while Morgan gives Derringer the pertinent information on the man and signs a form that he read the man his rights. He complains as the deputy pats him down once more and stuffs him in the back of the Sheriff's SUV. As they drive off, Morgan looks at Emily.

"What do you want to bet he doesn't shut up until he finally gets a lawyer that shuts him up?"

Emily grins. "Not taking that bet. Let's go."

Morgan nods as they walk back to the SUV to continue on their search.

* * *

Hotch, Reid and Rossi are going through the lockers, closets and other personal areas in Hut #3. So far they had all found a noticeable lack of personal items: no rings, no jewelry, no photos. Reid slowly steps back and scans the entire room.

_"Cult leaders notoriously strip away all remnants of a follower's life. They cut off communication, take away personal items, until all that remains is the leader and his doctrine. Nothing of their past life remains. But we only see this in the huts. In the art, images from outside the commune remain,_" he thinks to himself.

Hotch had studied the young man. When he sees Reid complete his thoughts, he addresses him. "What are you thinking, Reid?"

"Just that things aren't adding up to a complete cult. Here in the huts we see the sterilization of the past lives. But in their art, even in their webhosting business, we see the influence of the outside world. Add in the staging of the bodies and I just don't think this is a cult. And in coming to that conclusion, it stands to reason this was not a mass suicide but rather a mass murder," Reid explains.

Hotch and Rossi had slowly walked towards Reid as he had talked. Now all three men stand in the center of the hut contemplating Reid's conclusions. Rossi glances at his boss.

"He's right. This whole thing is…is so off, Aaron. No personalization in here and no idolatry, either. Where are the calls to follow a doctrine? Where are the warnings here, where people live, to obey or else?" Rossi asks.

Hotch shakes his head. "They aren't here because that's not what was going on. Maybe the Harrows had aimed for that and perhaps, based on what Prentiss found, they were starting to indoctrinate the children into a group paranoia but the adults weren't being exposed the same way. Even the computer programmers would have been too few to completely convince everyone here that death was a necessity. There were no hints of any government entity planning a raid. Garcia checked state and national agencies. None of this makes sense."

"Unless there is more to that bunker than we know. Has Garcia checked to see if any known member of the commune had access to something more than just firearms? Explosives of some sort maybe?" Rossi suggests.

Hotch pulls out his phone. "Garcia, check to see if any member we know of has ever had access to or connections that can get them access to explosives of any kind. Check domestically as well as internationally."

"Yes, sir," Garcia says, as she starts a new search on her computer.

Hotch hangs up and stares at the other two men. "Let's finish checking out the huts. Maybe we can- -" he breaks off as his phone rings. "Hotchner," he answers.

"Hotch, it's Derringer. Just got a call from the doctor Wynn is staying with. He said the kid showed him where the bunker is located. Pointed out some other places on a map that could be worth checking out, too."

"Is the bunker in any of the places Morgan and Prentiss are checking?"

"Smack dab in the middle of points 4 and 5," Derringer answers.

Hotch is already moving to the door. "Good. Get a couple of men and prepare to drive out there. We'll follow you in our SUV and have Morgan and Prentiss go there right now. Text me the coordinates."

"Sounds good. Meet you at the cars in 5."

Hotch hangs up and immediately calls Morgan. "Morgan, there's a place between points 4 and 5. That's where the bunker is. I'll send you a text with the map coordinates as soon as Derringer gets them to me."

"Sounds good. We're just leaving area 3 now. We'll wait until we get the coordinates then head that way."

"Good. Morgan, be careful. We've got Garcia checking to see if there could be explosives."

"Shit. Okay, we'll be careful."

Hotch pockets his phone as the three men hurry back towards the SUV's. He detours into the office long enough to let Garcia and JJ know where they are going. He sees JJ unconsciously rub her stomach, a silent prayer being sent up for her wife. He has nothing to say to her. He gets the text from Derringer and forwards it to Morgan as he walks back outside to find Rossi and Reid already waiting in an SUV.

In just 4 minutes, they are following Derringer to the bunker.

* * *

When Morgan gets a text alert he hands his phone to Emily. She checks the coordinates on the map and directs him where to go. As they get closer Morgan sighs.

"What?" Emily asks, looking up from the map.

"Vultures."

Emily looks up and sees the birds circling the clear sky. Hoping they are circling a dead animal she looks back to the map to find a place for Morgan to park the SUV. Once she finds a secure place for all the vehicles, she texts the location to Hotch so he can let Derringer know.

Once parked, she and Morgan get out and carefully make their way towards a rock that they can look over and see the bunker. As they scan the open area between their protected location and the bunker in the hill, Emily suddenly gasps.

"Derek…is that…an arm?"

Morgan follows her pointing finger and grimaces. "Yeah…it is. Lots of wolves and coyotes in the area. Hell, even bears will eat carrion if it is available."

"I think it's safe to say no one is alive in there," Emily points out.

Morgan nods. "I agree. And the door is open. Not a good sign that we'll find anyone alive."

Emily turns and leans back against the rock. "Fuck."

He turns and leans beside her. "I second that assessment."

It is 10 minutes later when the others arrive. As Derringer gets out he looks up and sees the circling scavengers.

"That's not a good sign," he notes.

As the newcomers walk up, Morgan and Emily relate what they have seen so far. Hotch steps around the rock and sees the partially eaten arm lying about 15 feet away. Add in the open door of the bunker and he agrees with his agents: No one is alive here. He shakes his head.

"Morgan, Prentiss, make entry. Announce yourselves just in case. Do it all by the book." He looks at Rossi. "Dave, get up on that rock," he points, "just in case we need a good shot. Sheriff, want to put a guy up there, too?"

Derringer looks at one of his men. "Clancy, you're the best shot. Go with Rossi."

"Yes, sir."

Hotch looks at the others. "We'll cover Morgan and Prentiss from here."

Emily and Morgan had shed their coats, both ignoring the cool air as adrenaline starts to pump through them. With their guns at the ready, the two slowly approach the open door. The smell of decaying flesh hits them both. Regardless, Morgan steps slightly closer.

"THIS IS THE FBI! PLEASE COME OUT WITH YOUR HANDS UP!" They wait a moment. He looks at Emily, who nods she is ready. "THIS IS THE FBI! WE'RE COMING IN TO CHECK ON YOU!"

The two agents step to the door. Morgan peers around the edge of the doorframe, barely able to make out much beyond the light filtering in from the door. He can tell it's a large room but isn't sure how large. He pulls out his flashlight and Emily follows suit. Morgan raises his left hand and gestures for Emily to clear to the right as he clears to the left. Emily just nods.

From his vantage point, Hotch has to tell himself to breathe as his agents quickly step into the bunker…

…and are immediately assured they are alone but for the three badly decimated bodies on the floor. They step back out into the light, both gulping in fresh air. Emily raises her hand to signal all clear to the others as she fights the urge to vomit. She might have succeeded had a vulture not chosen that moment to land and take a large chuck of meat off the arm lying on the ground.

She races away from the bunker and proceeds to lose her breakfast and the protein bar she had eaten right before Hotch's call. When she finishes she takes a few steps away and leans against the rock wall. Reid walks up to her.

"You okay?"

Emily nods weakly. "Be fine. It's…bad."

Reid looks over to where Hotch stands with Morgan. "So we guessed. You two aren't known for weak stomachs."

"Morgan threw up, too?"

"Yeah. Thought checking on you would keep me from following suit," he admits with a grin.

Emily can't help but smile. "Good idea." She takes a steadying breath. "At least 3 dead that I saw. Whoever killed them left the door open so the animals would destroy the bodies. Plan worked."

Reid nods. "I bet it did."

"Emily, here's some water, kid," Rossi says as he walks up.

"Thanks. Derek needs some, too," as she uncaps it, rinses her mouth, spits, then takes a long swallow.

"Clancy took one to him," Rossi tells her. "Derringer called the M.E. and has them sending out a team to recover what we can. Dare I ask what else is in there?"

Emily shrugs. "Not much. Saw what looked like food storage closets but the smell got so bad…" she trails off.

Rossi nods. "Understandable." He holds up a few filter masks. "Reid, I have a feeling you, Hotch and I are going to check a little closer."

Reid groans. "Great." He takes one of the masks. "Should have thought to grab my mask. It's got a thicker filter."

Emily smiles and pats him on the arm. "Good luck, Reid."

"Right. Thanks."

As those two walk off to meet up with Hotch, Morgan walks over to Emily.

"You okay?"

Emily nods. "Will be. Glad JJ didn't come with them."

Morgan chuckles. "Me, too. So, you see anything other than the lockers?"

"Nope. From the scratches on them, I'd say there is food in them the wolves or coyotes were trying to get to."

Morgan nods. "Yep. If there were as many guns as Wynn indicated, they are gone now."

"And if there was anything more it's probably gone, too."

"Rossi said the kid said there was a lot of money in there. Bet it's gone, too."

"A sucker bet," Emily notes. The two are quiet a moment. "Someone killed 201 people, Derek. For fucking guns and money? Destroyed a place of peace and art for fucking guns and money?"

Morgan nods. "Looks like it. Let's hope to hell we can find a clue as to who is responsible."

"We're back to the Harrows. They were the ones that started manipulating people. They were the ones with the most to gain by killing everyone and taking off with guns and money."

Morgan nods. "And bodies showed signs of having had watches and rings. Bet they have a shitload of jewelry to hock or meltdown, too."

Emily nods. "Yep." Her voice catches. Morgan looks over at her. She bites her lip to keep the tears at bay. "Kids, Derek. They killed kids for this shit."

She pushes off the rock and walks back towards the SUV's. Morgan knows her well enough to know she needs a moment alone. He pushes off the rock and starts towards the bunker but stops. He'd seen enough to know there was nothing more he wants to see. Instead he pulls out his phone and sends a text to Garcia.

"_Baby Girl, we need to find the Harrows. Do what you can to speed up that search_."

"_Done, Morgan. How bad is the bunker?"_

Morgan considers not answering but decides she and JJ deserve to know as much as the rest of them. "_3 dead. Guns gone. Hotch, Rossi, Reid checking it out_."

He pockets his phone and in an effort to give one person a semblance of dignity in death, scares off the vulture that lands to try to get one more bite of the arm on the ground a few feet away.


	8. Chapter 8

Garcia starts to refine her search for the Harrows, widening the parameters and the reach for information. When that finishes, she starts to upload more of the photos and fingerprints that had been given to her by the M.E.'s teams.

"Shit. Too much information."

Her computer is running so many searches it is slowing down. She gets up to go into the webhosting hub to use one of those. JJ glances up at her.

"You okay?"

Garcia nods. "Yep. My baby is working so hard she is slowing down. I want to keep her looking for the Harrows so I'm going to go start uploading these photos and prints using one of their computers. Kevin can drop them into our database once I send them to him."

JJ nods. "Good idea. The backgrounds on known members are pretty clean. A few minor drug busts but that's it."

"Not surprising. Well let me get at this."

JJ nods and goes back to looking over the histories they have already pulled. Garcia sits down at the computer where she had first discovered the cyber fortress. She and Kevin had developed, launched, refined and re-launched a program that will hopefully break through the third (and she hopes final) wall. She talks to the computer as she works.

"Okay, my new friend, I need you to help me up load a lot of information to my little helper. You know, he is more than a little helper. Yep, he is. He was my boyfriend. First one I've had for more than a few months. Only thing is he got a little jealous about how good I was with you and your kin. But that's okay. I have someone new now who I really love and who treats me so good. Life is kind of crazy that way. She was a rebound for me and a new discovery and yet so, so right it's like I can't remember life before her." She sighs happily. "I love her so much."

For the next hour she uploads information and talks to the computer. But as time goes on, her talk goes from happy to sad.

"It is crazy to believe that love can last. I mean, who are we to think that we'll be any better off than the people we try to find justice for?" Tears stream down her cheeks. "Some day all hell will break lose in our life and someone will kill us or we'll get arrested and put away in a dark cell where no one will find us. We'll just be destroyed if we don't listen to the true teacher. If we don't obey his word we will lose our lives to the- -"

"PENELOPE!"

JJ's voice breaks through the overwhelming sorrow. Garcia looks up at her best friend.

"Why do we do it, JJ? Why do we try to find justice? Why do you have babies knowing that if you don't obey him you will die? And they will die? And they will- -"

JJ grabs Garcia by the shoulders. "STOP! Pen, listen to yourself? Honey, something is wrong with you." JJ stares into tear-filled eyes. "Penelope, somehow that computer program started again. You've been exposed to those subliminal messages. Listen to me: we do what we do to stop the death and destruction those images showed you. Look into your heart, Pen. Look into your heart and ignore that crap in your mind."

Garcia starts to shake, slowly at first then great shuddering throes. JJ pulls her close as Garcia sobs. JJ strokes blonde hair streaked with red and green in honor of Christmas.

"I'm so scared, Jayje."

JJ nods and kisses the top of her friends' head, remembering the fear she'd had after being dosed by the unsub in Alexandria. "I know, Pen. I know you are. But you will be okay. I swear it. You'll be just fine. You just need to get away from here for a while, okay? Why don't you go lay down in the- -"

"NO! No, I don't want to be alone! Please don't make me be alone!" she pleads.

JJ nods. "Okay. How about I go with you? I can work from there as easily as here, okay? Then you can rest and things will look better after you rest, okay?"

"What if…if I have a nightmare?"

"I'll be right there with you, okay? I swear it, Penelope. I won't leave you." Garcia finally concedes. "Good. Help me pack up my stuff and we'll go to the RV."

Ten minutes later JJ and an eerily silent Garcia get back into their SUV. Garcia locks the door behind them. She then checks the drivers' door and confirms it, too, is locked.

"All secure?" JJ asks.

"Yes," Garcia replies…then starts to check all the windows. JJ lets her. Finally Garcia nods. "Okay. Yes, we're safe."

"Good. Now, go take a shower. It will help. I swear, I will be right here, okay? I just want to let Hotch know where we are but I won't leave the RV."

Garcia nods and goes into the bathroom. JJ blows out a breath, hating how shaky her best friend is, not to mention how quiet. JJ pulls out her phone and calls the unit chief.

"Hotch, we have a problem." She tells him everything that had happened.

"Son of a bitch. Get Kevin to figure out how that damn thing got started up again."

"Will do," JJ says as she sets her computer on the table. "In the meantime I will…shit…hold on a second Hotch." She types a couple of things to confirm what she is seeing. "Son of a bitch. Hotch? Two of the people dead in the community center are second cousins David and Judith Harrow."

"Harrow?" he repeats, hoping he'd heard wrong.

"Yes, Harrow. Fuck, Hotch, if these were the two spewing the fear and damnation they aren't the masterminds behind this. They were just pawns, too. Who the fuck are we still trying to find?"

* * *

Morgan and Emily drive back to the main campus in silence. Emily stares out the window, lost in her mind. Morgan reaches over and pats her thigh.

"Talk to me, Emily."

Emily remains silent for several moments. Finally she takes a deep breath. "Did you ever stop to wonder how a weapons dealer gets started? Sometimes it's a family inheritance. Sometimes it's by taking out a mentor and taking over his or her business. But a lot of times it's by stealing just enough to start making a name for yourself. Lauren Reynolds was established that way. Piece by piece, contact by contact, before I was ever picked to become her. Hell, I am still convinced there really was a Lauren and when she died I pulled on her boots." Emily finally turns and looks at Morgan. "Small arms, maybe even some construction-grade explosives. Not enough to make a name in the international market but just enough to get domestic buyers interested."

Morgan slowly nods. "A start up fund of sorts. Make a little money, make the right contact, move on to higher impact weapons."

"And eventually reach out to the right connection to get you to the overseas market. Could this be a fucking stepping stone for someone? Why else have people buying shotguns and AR-15's?"

"Shit. That could well be the case." He thinks on it a second, hating how much it makes sense; hating even more the monotone voice his best friend is using. It's the same voice she slips into when talking about her time as Lauren Reynolds. "Emily, if someone did something like this to create your cover it has nothing to do with you. You know that, right? You didn't do it."

"I get that. I swear I do. It just makes me sick, Derek. I never even thought about how they created my cover. I never…never asked the questions I should have." She sighs. "Never," she whispers again.

Morgan parks the SUV by the community center and turns to stare at Emily. "Emily Elizabeth Prentiss: how the fuck would you have known what to ask? And why do I think you know more than you should about Lauren's creation?"

Emily turns to Morgan. "Do you know how I got away from that inquiry in London?"

"New evidence came up," he replies.

Emily gives him a grin. "Garcia hacked the ghost files and found the trails to files Clyde thought he had deleted forever. The British government couldn't allow them to be introduced into evidence."

"Because the government was technically behind so much illegal activity?" Emily just nods, letting him put the final piece of the puzzle in. "Holy shit…this could be the same thing? You think?"

Emily shrugs. "Could be. Who knows? If it is, we'll never have answers and these poor people will never have justice." She takes a deep breath. "I hope to hell I'm wrong. I hope this is just lingering puniness from being sick a little while ago. I hope to hell we find the bastards responsible for this and fry their asses. But if it goes cold, I'll always wonder who the fuck used it as a stepping stone into my worst nightmare."

Morgan contemplates that thought as Emily gets out and goes into the commune offices. She needed to see her wife.

"Jen?" She calls. No answer. "Jen?" she calls again, the hair on the back of her neck standing up. She pulls out her phone and hits JJ's prompt.

"Hey, Em."

"Where the fuck are you?" Emily demands.

JJ frowns. "Excuse me?"

"Where ARE you?" Emily demands again, obviously angry.

"In the RV with Pen. What's your problem, Emily?" she asks, miffed.

"Are you okay? Why are you in the RV? Is it your blood pressure? Are the babies- -" Emily is already out the door at a run.

"EM!" JJ interrupts, kicking herself for not making sure Emily knew what happened. "I'm okay and the babies are fine." She explains what happened to Garcia. Emily slows to a walk, relief surging over her. "So she's taking a nap and I'm running the Harrows through VICAP."

"The Harrows? You found them?"

"Shit. Obviously you missed my conversation with Hotch. Is Morgan with you?"

"Yes."

"Come to the RV and I'll explain to both of you."

"Okay. And Jen?"

"Yes?"

"Sorry about the anger. I puked a little bit ago and still don't feel 100% yet."

JJ smiles. "Forgiven. Should have texted you. It's just been a bit crazy. See you in a minute."

"Okay. Bye, baby." Emily hangs up and rubs her forehead. Yep, headache. She looks at Morgan as he walks up. "Jen and Garcia are in the RV. We need to go find out what Jen knows about our main suspects."

Morgan nods. "Hope it's good news. We sure as hell could use some."

"Yeah. Derek, about Penelope…" she tells him what JJ had told her.

When the two get the RV, JJ is waiting for them at the door. Morgan immediately goes to the backroom where Garcia is resting. Emily looks at her wife.

"She'll be okay?"

JJ nods. "From everything I read, yes. She wasn't exposed long. Rest will do wonders for her. I've been working with Kevin, who is tearing apart the program trying to figure out how it turned itself back on after they had disabled it."

Emily nods. "Good. He'll find the answer. I know he will."

* * *

In the bedroom, Morgan sits down beside Garcia and runs a hand through her hair. Her eyes flutter open.

"Hi," she says softly.

"You okay?" he asks.

Garcia nods. "I will be. It was horrible, Morgan. I was just so…so upset and Jen could barely get through to me. I was so scared of nothing!"

"Hey, now: no getting upset again. It could have happened to any of us."

"I hate feeling sad and scared and yucky. Promise me you'll kick the bad guy's ass for me?"

Morgan smiles and lies down beside Garcia. "You got it, Baby Girl."

She snuggles up to him, grateful for his friendship and love now more than ever.


	9. Chapter 9

Hotch, Reid and Rossi don't get back from the bunker until nearly 3 that afternoon. All decide they need showers before continuing to work the case. Considering what was in that bunker, the other agents agree.

During the day, Emily, JJ and Morgan had continued to go through the backgrounds of all the victims as their identities were confirmed. Garcia had gotten up at 2:30, her headache finally gone, and helped them with their searches. Emily leans back on the couch she is sitting on.

"I don't think I have seen so many misdemeanor pot arrests in my life. I mean, seriously, if you add up all the ones I had seen before today, not even close to the number I've seen just today."

Morgan laughs. "I hear that. None of these people are throwing up red flags to me."

"Me neither," JJ agrees. "But there are two things really bugging me: the punishment room in the art building and the teachings and punishment room in the classroom. Why didn't that raise a red flag to anyone? And why did the teachers, especially, go along with the new teachings?"

Emily runs her hand through her hair. "Damn good questions. The person that would know, that would document everything, was the secretary. We still don't know who she is or where her records are."

Morgan sighs. "We need to find out who she is from Wynn Station." Emily just nods.

"No! Come on, there has to be a better way," JJ pleads. "That little boy should not have to identify anyone here."

"He's a teenager, Jen. At some point he'll want to help if only to alleviate his guilt," Emily explains. She sees JJ is not appeased. "Maybe we can give him until tomorrow before we question him. That will give him more time to get past the shock."

JJ finally shrugs. "Sure. Still going to hate it."

Emily grins. "Me, too."

"Maybe I can grab Reid and we can really tear apart the office. Maybe she sensed the impending doom and hid her records," Morgan suggests.

"Could have," JJ agrees. "All I know is I need a break. If Hotch and the others get here tell them I'm taking the twins for a walk."

Emily stands, smiling. "And I'm going along as her bodyguard."

JJ raises an eyebrow. "You think I need a bodyguard?"

Emily nods. "Yep. I think I need to guard your body very, very closely," she explains with a suggestive wink.

Morgan and Garcia start to laugh as JJ rolls her eyes.

"Incorrigible, Prentiss," JJ mock scolds.

"Every day in every way," Emily agrees.

The two women grab their coats and go out to get some fresh air so they can have clear heads when the team meets to go over the findings for the day.

* * *

Due to the number of people involved, the team decides to meet in the office to recap the day and the investigation so far. As soon as they enter, all eyes turn to Garcia. The analyst stares at the computers in the webhosting hub, anger in her eyes. She walks to the doorway and stares at the one she had been using when the program affected her. After a few minutes, JJ steps toward her.

"Penelope," she says quietly.

Garcia walks into the room and storms towards the system. She wags her finger at it. "I will SO figure out how you fucking did that shit to me. And you will be reduced to RUBBLE! Do you hear me? RUBBLE!" She turns and storms past the other. "How dare those bastard unsubs use a computer against me. You best be happy I am not allowed to be armed and that I'm a pacifist at heart or not even Morgan could stop me from destroying those bastards when we find them."

The agents watch her in shock…and in pride. Morgan starts to chuckle.

"That's the Baby Girl we all know and love!"

"Yeah. And I think I fear her more than JJ," Rossi admits.

JJ grins. "Don't blame you for that one."

They all follow her into the office and sit down to go over what they have found out. To no one's surprise the only things left in the bunker were the food stores. The lockers had been reinforced so the wild animals could not get to them. And obviously the unsub had not wanted them. Once that is done being discussed, Hotch looks at JJ.

"What do you know about the Harrows?"

"More than I ever wanted," she admits as she shifts a little, her back aching. "These two have been grifters for a lot of years. Find a mark, develop a scam, get the pay off, get out of dodge. Always the two of them and at times there are reports linked to them and 1 or 2 others but very rarely do those same names pop up attached to another scam. I'm still running names as I find them. So far most are in jail, a couple are dead. Then about 4 years ago their trail ends here."

"Anyone working with them at the time?" Morgan asks.

JJ shakes her head. "Not that I can see. A few more names haven't come back yet but the truth is unless we find out someone came here at the same time as them we may never know who their accomplice is. Hell, for all we know they really had a change of heart and are innocent dupes, too."

"Lifelong grifters don't just change," Rossi points out.

Reid is frowning. "Maybe we're looking at this wrong still."

"What do you mean, Reid?"

"Maybe instead of them going straight they found someone they could follow? Someone who showed them a better way to make money." He gets up, pacing as he thinks. "He convinces them to work with him. He has a perfect place that's open to newcomers, libertarian in their beliefs, so against the way the world around them works they have built a utopian city that has lasted over 40 years. But that insular existence makes the inhabitants more easily swayed to a new way of thinking."

Rossi nods. "I see that. Communes in general are set up by people looking to have more control over their life and less influence from the world at large. These are people looking for more meaning, more inclusion, more autonomy. It's just like Cyrus in Colorado. He inserted himself into the community and slowly turned that from peaceful existence to paranoid existence."

"So you have 2 grifters told this could be the score of a lifetime if they just put in some time. The pay off had to have been worth it," Reid continues.

"The guns and money," Emily states. "Whoever the real unsub is here convinced them it was a payoff for the 3 of them if they got the guns and money together."

"Most likely. Which probably means they have a buyer," Reid concludes.

Hotch stiffens. "Holy shit. I see what you mean. Why kill them now if they don't have a buyer?" He thinks a second. "I'm calling Straus. We may need to get BATFE in with us on this. They may have ears on the ground that know a deal is imminent."

Rossi holds up his hand. "Wait a minute, Aaron. If we call in BATFE now and we're wrong we're just gumming up the works here. And there's another government agency for real cults to show their followers on the nightly news. We need to tread carefully here."

"How do we do that, Dave? How do we sit here and profile a potential arms deal going down and _not_ bring in another agency?"

The younger agents remain silent. Both their boss and their mentor have valid points. But who will win this standoff? Finally Hotch sighs.

"Two days. I give us two days to find the third unsub then I bring in the BATFE."

Rossi nods. "Agreed. Tomorrow let's finish the huts."

"We need the secretary's records," JJ interjects. "They are what can help me narrow down who was helping the Harrows pull the strings and who ended up betraying them."

Emily sits forward, knowing her wife will hate what she is about to say. "We need to question Wynn Station. We need to know everything he knows."

Hotch nods. "I agree."

"But he's a kid. And he's traumatized," JJ points. "Will he really be helpful?"

"He knows this place, Jen. He knows it the way no one else does," Emily points out. "Without him we're just scrambling around in the dark hoping to find something. He can shine a light on a lot of our questions. And the bodies are gone. He won't have to see his mom or his girlfriend or anyone."

"I still hate it," JJ states.

"We all do, JJ," Morgan tells her. "But Prentiss is right: we need to speak to him."

Hotch looks at Rossi and Reid. "You two go see him. I know Prentiss normally questions kids but considering how they met he may be hesitant to speak with her."

Rossi nods. "We'll head to the doc's first thing in the morning."

"Good. Is there anything more we can do tonight?"

"There are about 50 people who have been identified that I haven't touched yet," JJ answers. "I'm so stuck in the web of the Harrows I just can't get to them all."

"Okay, you know what you've done, split up the others among the rest of us. We can all do a little homework tonight after dinner," Hotch states. "That said, try to put it away by 9. Any questions?"

"Just one," Reid says, as he turns to Garcia. "Any word on how that program restarted?"

"Not yet. I'll check with Kevin to see what he found but right now I just don't know how it happened. It shouldn't have been able to. I'll figure it out, that I can promise you."

"Good," Hotch says. "Now, Derringer told me his church sent out dinner for us. It's set up in the serenity tent. Go get a bite to eat, relax a bit, then get back on the backgrounds."

No one argues with the boss. As they leave to go to the tent, Garcia stops JJ and Emily.

"Uh, please don't be offended but I'm going to stay with Morgan tonight. I hate this but I'm still a bit shaky. Kinda want someone to hold me and there's not room for 5 in the bed, you know?" she says with a small smile.

Emily grins. "I understand. But just to warn you: he drools in his sleep."

Garcia chuckles. "Ew. Thanks for the warning."

"Take care, Pen," JJ says, patting her arm.

"Thanks."

* * *

After a very good dinner, the agents split up to go to their RV's. JJ hasn't said more than 10 words to Emily since the team meeting. When they get to the RV, Emily looks at her.

"Jen, I know you hate us questioning Wynn but it has to be done."

JJ nods. "I know."

Emily rolls her eyes. "Then why am I getting the silent treatment?"

JJ takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly. "Because you're the easiest target for my frustration." She turns and looks Emily in the eye. "Sorry."

Emily steps to her and pulls her into a hug. "Forgiven. I love you, Jen…even when you're being a brat to me."

JJ chuckles. "Good to know. I love you, too, even when you're calling me a brat."

Emily grins and they each get back to work. The third time JJ shifts uncomfortably, Emily pushes her computer aside.

"That does it: I'm playing the wife card."

"The wife card?"

"Jen, you're hurting. Time to relax. If Hotch gets pissed I'll take the hit for it but you need to relax. You can't run your body as hard as you did with Henry. You're carrying twins, honey."

JJ wants to argue but her back is aching so badly she just nods. "You're right. I just keep thinking the next name could be the one, you know?"

Emily nods. "I know. But if they were con artists that long you're going to keep finding links to other crooks. We can get back at it tomorrow, okay?"

JJ nods. "Okay."

The women shut their computers down and go back to the bedroom. Emily changes into sleep shorts and a tee shirt. When JJ finishes in the bathroom, Emily steps to her and starts to undress her. When JJ is just in underwear, Emily leads her to the bed. The brunette sits down and spreads her legs.

"Sit, baby. Let me give you a massage before you lie down."

JJ smiles. "Always taking care of me."

Emily nods, smiling. "Always."

JJ climbs on the bed and sits between Emily's legs. Emily starts her massage at JJ's neck and shoulders, working the knots out as JJ moans happily. It takes Emily about 10 minutes to get a couple of extremely tight knots out JJ's shoulder blades.

"You need to stretch more during the day, Agent Jareau."

JJ grins. "I'll keep that in mind, Agent Prentiss."

Emily continues to work JJ's mid-back. She eases the tension along JJ's spine then moves lower, working along JJ's lower back. The better JJ had started to feel, the hornier she had started to feel. She starts to caress her hands up and down her wife's strong legs. Emily senses the change in her wife and her nipples get hard. She works her hands lower, kneading into her wife's firm butt.

"Oh, Em…feels so good," JJ moans.

She had been leaning over as much as her stomach will allow. Now she sits up turning her head to look at the woman behind her. Emily's eyes are dark with desire as her hands start to massage JJ's hips. JJ leans back more. Emily leans forward and they start to kiss. Sweet, sensual explorations of each other's mouths. Emily continues to massage JJ's hips and her sides. When the kisses end, Emily starts to kiss along JJ's shoulder. Kissing, licking and nipping along the ridge, then up her neck, finally catching her wife's ear in her teeth.

"Oh, Em," JJ moans again.

Her hands rub up and down Emily's legs as she feels Emily center start to thrust against her ass. When Emily's hands venture forward, they find pert breasts, nipples fully at attention. She starts to pinch them, roll them, rub them. JJ's hips start to buck. Emily's mouth travels up and down her wife's neck as the blonde's hips start to thrust forward. JJ brings an arm up and over Emily's head, as if there was a chance the woman would move away from her. As Emily nips JJ's earlobe once more while tweaking her nipples, JJ comes hard.

"OH! OH! OHHHHHHHHHH!"

Emily smiles. Normally JJ doesn't come without clit play. Emily knows that can't be enough for her wife.

"I love you, Jennifer Prentiss," she whispers, as her hands slide down into JJ's panties. She uses both hands to stimulate her wife's sweet jewel.

JJ's fingers dig into the muscular thighs surrounding her. She doesn't even try to speak, just moans and groans her pleasure as she rides the waves up until she crests into another orgasm.

"OH! EM! OH!"

Emily just smiles as her hands bathe in essence of her wife. She continues to kiss along JJ's neck as the woman bounces through the aftershocks. But suddenly her mouth kisses air.

JJ stands up and rips the shorts off her wife. She kneels beside the bed.

"Emily. Now. Here. Now," she commands.

Emily just nods and swings her legs around, sitting on the edge of the bed as JJ leans in, her hunger voracious. Emily falls back on the bed as JJ attacks her with her tongue, her teeth, her hands. Emily brings her feet up to the edge of the bed, opening herself even more to JJ.

"Jen, oh, God, oh, that feel so good. Oh, yes, baby, fucking eat me. Oh, don't stop!" Emily begs.

JJ brings her hands together and starts to alternate sucks with thrusts into her wife. Emily spasms at the continual penetration, fireworks exploding behind her eyelids. And when JJ can tell she is ready, she penetrates with her whole hand. Emily's back arches.

"YES! OH, YESSSSSSSSS!"

JJ sucks Emily's clit hard and fast as her wrist pushes in and out, her fingers scissoring inside to hit all of Emily's pleasure points. She uses her free arm to hold Emily's hips down and continues to suck and fuck her through two powerful orgasms. Finally Emily pushes against her wife's head.

"St- -st- -stop…killing…me…fuck, Jen…" she stutters out.

JJ smiles and climbs up on the bed. She stares down into her spent wife's face.

"That was the best massage ever, sweetheart."

Emily manages a smile. "Best for who?"

JJ leans down and kisses her. Emily moans as she tastes herself. JJ sits back up. "I'd say for both of us."

Emily nods happily. 'Good call." She pulls JJ down into a hug. "I love you, Jen."

"I love you, too, Emily."

They lie there a few moments, then Emily turns to look at the gorgeous blonde. "You already need more, don't you?"

JJ smiles. "Pregnancy hormones are doubled, remember."

Emily proudly nods. "I remember. And I am so damn happy about it." She rolls to her side. "How about we get in this bed properly and I help you tamp those hormones down a bit?"

JJ grins. "An even better idea than your massage one."

They kiss again. Emily stands and pulls off her tee as JJ turns around in the bed, sliding off her panties to give her wife full access. Soon they are again making love and do so for a couple of hours before finally giving in to sleep.


	10. Chapter 10

Emily and JJ both start in fright as someone pounds on the door of their RV just after 4 in the morning.

"This can't be good," Emily mutters as she feels around in the dark for shorts and a tee.

She pulls on the clothes as she walks to the door. When she opens it a bitter wind blows in, erasing any lingering sleepiness from her.

"SHIT!" She stares at the soldier. "Can I help you?"

He nods. "There's a guy, uh…" his voice breaks off as he reads her shirt. He blushes then continues. "Uh, at the gate. There's this guy who claims he used to live here and his mother still does. Refuses to leave until he speaks to someone in charge. My sergeant said I should let you all know and make the decision whether to arrest him or not. Here's the info from his license."

He holds a piece of paper out towards her, which she takes and scans. The entire time he had talked he had tried to look everywhere but right at Emily. The agent just rolls her eyes.

"Okay. Head back to the gate. A couple of us will be up there soon."

"Yes, ma'am. Thank you, ma'am," he says, already moving away.

Emily shuts the door and sighs. As she turns back towards the bedroom she catches her reflection on the mirror on that door. She rolls her eyes.

"Holy shit! Pen!"

In the dark she had grabbed JJ's shirt instead of her own. This shirt, a gift from Garcia, proudly proclaims, "Double the pleasure, double the fun!" with an arrow that would normally point to JJ's pregnant tummy. For Emily it just points down between her legs.

"Great…that soldier thinks I'm Agent Hermaphrodite. No more dressing in the dark again. Ever!" she mutters as she goes back to the bedroom to grab her phone and get changed.

"What's up?" JJ asks. She then giggles as she sees what shirt her wife is wearing.

Emily glares at her. "Don't. Start."

She tells JJ what the knock was about as she starts to pull on clothes. JJ takes the man's info, grabs her phone and calls Hotch to tell him about the potential witness at the gate. After a few minutes she hangs up.

"He'll have Morgan go with you to talk to this guy. He'll have Pen start the background on him right away," she relates.

"And meanwhile his happy ass will go back to sleep," Emily grumps.

JJ smiles. "As Mel Brooks said, 'It's good to be the king.'"

Emily grins. "True." She sits on the edge of the bed and runs her hand through soft, blonde hair. "Please, go back to sleep, honey. You have no reason to worry about where I am going and who I am talking to. If anything, he could get us home sooner if he gives us the right info."

"How did you know I was going to worry about you?" Emily just lifts an eyebrow. "Damn, I hate that fucking eyebrow sometimes. Fine, I will try to sleep and try not to worry."

Emily smiles and gives her a kiss. "Good girl. If you sleep well I'll even bring you a special treat."

"Peanut buttered pickles?" JJ immediately asks, then grimaces. "Crap…guess that craving is back."

The two women chuckle. Emily nods. "I actually think there are pickles and peanut butter in the serenity tent fridge. You'll need to thank the sheriff and his church."

"I will. I love you, Em."

Emily kisses her once more. "I love you, too." She glances at her watch and stands. "Morgan should be waiting. See you later, baby."

"Bye, honey."

* * *

Emily turns out the bedroom light and shuts the door. As she steps out of the RV she sees Morgan is already waiting.

"Hotch owes us big time for this one," he says, his breath billowing steam around his head.

"No shit. Let's go get this guy and bring him back to the office to talk. At least the heater is on in there."

Morgan nods and the two make their way to an SUV to pick up this potential witness. As they drive he glances over at Emily.

"JJ really okay?"

"Yep. She's sore but I'm not sure if that's from the tackle or from the babies. I made her stop working early so I could massage some of the tension out of her back. She needs to take time to stretch more during the day or she will always hurt."

"You're worried about her?"

Emily shrugs. "Yes and no. I know she's doing a lot of the right things so I'm not worried about her actions. But shit, Derek, he knocked her down. I saw it and I nearly fucking killed that kid because of it. My worry is about the accidental shit, the…the stuff we can't really control." She takes a deep breath. "I'll need to lose it a few times most likely over the last few weeks of her pregnancy," she admits.

He reaches over and takes her hand. "Say the word, any time, day or night."

Emily smiles and squeezes his fingers. "Thanks. I'll try not to abuse that offer."

As they pull up to the gate they see a man still being physically restrained by 2 soldiers as he screams at the sergeant. Emily and Morgan exchange a look.

"I really have no desire to cuff someone who is about to be told his mother is dead," Emily says.

"Me neither."

They stare at each other a moment then hold up their fists.

"One," Emily says.

"Two."

"THREE!" they say together and throw Rock, Paper, Scissors.

"Shit," Emily mumbles.

Morgan smiles. "Rock crushes scissors. He's all yours."

"You suck."

The two get out and walk up to the security perimeter. The sergeant gladly steps aside to let them handle the irate man.

Emily holds up her badge. "Sir, I'm SSA Emily Prentiss, this is SSA Derek Morgan. If you calm down we can take you to the compound and question you about what you might know."

"I don't give a FUCK about your questions! I want to know where my mother is!" he screams at her.

"I understand, sir," she answers calmly. "We can help you find her, too. Please, come with us."

He gets up in her face. "Where is my MOTHER, bitch?"

She glares back at him. "Simmer down or the only place you're going is the county lock up. Now, you can check your attitude and we can work together or you can sit in a cell and get answers as the media releases them."

He studies Emily carefully. Whether it is the compassion in her eyes or the look that says she will tear him limb from limb if he doesn't check his attitude his shoulders slump.

"Please…I just need to know…"

She reaches out and pats his arm. "I understand. Come on, we can answer as many questions for you as possible."

He nods and goes to get into their SUV. Morgan nods his thanks to the Guardsmen at the gate then goes to drive his partner and the distraught man back to the office.

* * *

Garcia finishes inputting the man's information into her computer and watches as information starts to scroll up the screen.

"Narvel Sessions. Age 29. No arrests for anything. Wow, smarty pants, Valedictorian of his high school and Salutatorian in college. Interesting, he didn't finish his schooling on the commune. Aha, science genius. Probably needed more than they could give him here and his mother was wise enough to see that and send him off campus for schooling," Garcia says, as she pauses for a sip of coffee. "Now working in the oil industry in Texas looking for new ways to implement green technology into the refining process. Looks like early teachings are inspiring his current work. Very cool. All in all you're a good guy about to get some very ugly news. I am so sorry, kitten."

She finishes her summary and texts it to Morgan so he will have it as he and Emily start to question the man. Garcia now turns her attention to the victims to see if knowing his mother's name will help them identify one of the as yet unconfirmed victims. It doesn't take long for her computer to pull up a driver's license for a Patricia Sessions, age 51, and match it to one of the Jane Doe's. She had lived on the commune since she was 24 and had died in the community center with Pines and the others. She sends the info on to Morgan.

"So sorry, kitten," she whispers once more, sympathizing with the man about to find out his mother is definitely dead.

* * *

Morgan gets the first text just before he and Emily enter the office. He pauses in the hallway to read the information as Emily continues in with Sessions. She offers the man a seat.

"Would you like a bottle or water or a soda or anything?" She offers.

"No. Just answers. Please."

"What I can tell you as we sit here is we have not identified all the bodies as yet. When was the last time you spoke to your mother?"

"A week ago," he answers. "Things were fine. She said the storage bunker was looking good and full. They could withstand anything."

"What exactly is the bunker for?"

Sessions shrugs. "I'm not 100% sure I understand. Some guy who'd been here a couple years started talking to everyone about how the government was getting out of control. He said Ruby Ridge and Waco were just the start of things. He'd show them instances of police raiding the wrong houses and point out no one ever got away unscathed; someone was always hurt or killed. It was paranoia backed up with fact. I kept telling Mom no one was coming after this place! If they government didn't have a reason to raid it back when marijuana was the cash crop they sure as hell wouldn't have a reason now when the cash crop, so to speak, is web hosting supplemented by sales of art and fresh fruits and vegetables." He takes a deep breath. "The news said this was…was Jonestown all over. That doesn't make sense, Agent Prentiss. No one here would just…just kill themselves for no reason! And my mother wouldn't do it without having called me to say goodbye or something. There's no way!"

Emily nods. "I believe you. Do you know the name of the man that was talking about the government coming after your family?"

"Yeah, uh, something Harrow."

Emily doesn't show the disappointment she feels at that name. "Was he the only one?"

"The only one I knew of. Maybe he…he tricked them all or something!"

"Maybe. Do you know who he was close with?"

He thinks a moment then has to shake his head. "No. I just visited a couple times a year when I needed a break from Houston. I really love this place but felt my calling was taking me elsewhere. Mom and Skinny both encouraged me, even got me into the regular high school in Socorro when my aptitude for science exceeded what they could teach me here. I was always welcomed back with open arms. No one here was…was so nuts that it stands out in my mind. I just don't…don't understand all this."

The man slumps down and starts to cry. Emily reaches over and places a comforting hand on his arm. She had seen Morgan walk in and understood the look on his face: Sessions' mother was among the dead. Emily has one more question before breaking the news.

"Narvel, do you know who the secretary was for this community? Her computer doesn't have anything on it."

He manages to chuckle through his tears. "Yeah. Mavis Burdick. She was in her 30's when Skinny started this place. They called her Grandma since everyone else was in their 20's. She hated computers. Kept meticulous notes about everything by hand. Has, geez, I don't know how many journals. Each is labeled very carefully and deals with just what the label says: Income from Art Sales, Income from Crop Sales, Miscellaneous Income which I believe meant marijuana sales but can't swear to that, and then journals for expenses. A few times the IRS came at us but she kept them off our butts. A few times they got ticked because they owed us more than we originally filed for."

Emily smiles. "She was an accounting whiz."

He nods. "Yes, ma'am, she was. I think she was the first one that told my Mom and Skinny to get me off the commune and into a real high school. From there I got a scholarship to the University of Texas at Austin. She always stressed my schooling when I'd come for a visit and get too involved in relaxing."

Morgan had texted Burdick's name to Garcia. It only takes her a few minutes to confirm she was one of the older ladies that died in hut 11. He just shakes his head.

"We can't find any journals, Narvel. Do you know where she kept them?" Emily asks.

He frowns. "They used to be on a bookshelf in Skinny's office."

He gets up and moves that way. Emily follows him, seeing it is a desire to understand, not an attempt to run that makes him move. He stares in shock at the sanitized office. He spins towards Emily.

"Where is everything?" he demands.

"This is how we found the office. What's missing?"

He turns back. "Just everything! There was art on the walls, some going back to the early days of the community. Old posters. Fuck, Skinny had a framed ticket from Woodstock along with a poster from the weekend! Like a real poster, not a replica! It's all gone!"

Emily's eyes narrow. Whoever took the books took items that would fetch a pretty penny on the collector's circuit. She sends a quick text to Garcia to get looking on Ebay and other sites for these items. "Narvel, please try to remember exactly what was in here. It could help us locate more answers if we find out what happened to these items."

He just nods. Emily looks over at Morgan and gives him a look that says the guy is too far gone for more questions at this moment. Morgan sighs, knowing he's about to send the man into a deeper funk. He slowly walks forward.

"Narvel, your mother was Patricia Sessions?" The man turns to Morgan and slowly nods. "I hate to tell you this but I'm afraid your mother was among the dead."

Narvel slowly starts to shake his head. "No…no you're wrong. YOU'RE WRONG!"

He launches himself at Morgan. Both agents had been ready for it. Emily grabs the man from behind, trapping his arms against his body. Morgan grabs the man by the shoulders, staring into his eyes.

"I'm afraid we're not wrong. We matched her to her driver's license photo."

The man continues to struggle against the agents for a few seconds more, then just seems to collapse. Emily eases him to the ground and pulls him into a hug.

"We're so sorry for your loss. I promise you we will do our best to find answers for you about why this happened."

"She didn't kill herself, Agent Prentiss. I swear she didn't! She wouldn't!"

"I believe you, Narvel. I believe you."

Morgan squats down beside them. "Narvel, if Mavis felt someone was after her journals, do you know where she might hide them?"

Narvel wipes his eyes. "I…I don't…I think…maybe in her hut. I don't know."

Morgan pats his shoulder. "Okay, man. Look, there is nothing you can do here tonight. Why don't you let us get you a ride back to Socorro? Get some sleep, get something to eat, think of anything you can that could help us find answers and come back tomorrow. That sound okay?" The man just nods. "Good. Let me go see if there's a deputy available to take you back. If not, I'll drive you myself."

* * *

After seeing how few deputies Derringer had left behind to help watch over the compound, Morgan decides to drive Narvel to Socorro himself. Emily refuses to let him go alone.

"Maybe we can grab breakfast and then go see the bank they used," she suggests to him after getting Narvel set up at hotel.

Morgan nods. "Good plan. You know, Rossi and Reid were going to come here today to talk to the kid. Maybe we can try instead since we're already here."

Emily considers this a moment but shakes her head. "I think the way I met the kid it wouldn't be good. He may be too scared to say something or he may try to twist what he knows to say something to please me, scared I'll get pissed again."

"True. Okay, so let's check the bank after getting a good breakfast and lots of coffee."

Emily grins. "I second the coffee, buddy."

The two go to an all night diner and place their order. Emily starts to study some of the other early morning diners and emits a low groan. She looks at Morgan and sees he's noticed, too. Reporters. Lots and lots of reports.

"Hide your gun," he whispers.

Emily nods and shifts her coat to conceal the firearm on her hip. The last thing they want to do is get caught up in an impromptu press conference while they eat. Knowing they dare not discuss the commune in case they are overheard, Morgan leans back in the booth.

"So, big plans for New Year's?"

Emily smiles, accepting the change of topic in stride. "Jen's parents are staying with us for it this year. After that, they are back on their driving vacation. They are headed to Florida to spend a week at the beach and visit friends down there. From there, who knows what they'll do next."

Morgan chuckles. "So they really are okay with his lay off?"

Emily shrugs. "They seem to be. They never did a lot of traveling except for Jen's tournaments and some of Mark's tournaments. I think they are making up for lost time and probably having a second honeymoon."

"Very cool. When do Alan and Mark get the deed to their new property?"

"I believe it's January 15. Jen is handling that since I think she wants to remind them not to forget their wives now that they have this great new toy to play with."

Morgan laughs. "I can so see Blondie giving that lecture." Emily nods as she sips her coffee. "When does Henry get home?"

"Will flies in with him tomorrow. Uh, make that today. Alan and Sandy will meet him at the airport as he flies right back."

"Ooo, tough."

"Yeah but they are still shorthanded even with Marty back on desk duty finally."

The two agents sit back and stop talking as their breakfast is delivered. As they start to eat, Garcia texts Emily. Emily reads the message and groans.

"Lots of items on Ebay matching what Narvel told us about," she whispers. "We'll need him to take a look."

Morgan nods. They quickly go back to mundane things, still concerned with the press they see at tables around the small restaurant.


	11. Chapter 11

When the rest of the team meets up at the commune office, JJ looks at Hotch. "Anything from Morgan or Emily?"

"With the help of the man that showed up, Narvel Sessions, we identified two more women. He also said Mavis Burdick, the secretary had carefully labeled journals for all the finances going back years."

"That's not good. I haven't seen anything like that anywhere," Rossi notes.

"She lived in Hut 11. With all that happened yesterday with Wynn we didn't get to pay as much attention to it as the others. JJ, was there anywhere that could conceal all sorts of journals?"

JJ thinks about it. "I don't think so. I didn't get into all the lockers that were there. There could be a hidden closet or something maybe. I just don't know."

"Okay you and I will go tear that apart that cabin. Reid, Rossi go interview Wynn and see if he can give us anything more."

"Why not have Morgan and Emily interview him since they are already in town?" Reid asks.

"Emily is concerned the way they met could influence Wynn's answers," Hotch explains.

"Ah, right. If Emily tackled me and held a gun on me I'd probably hedge my answers, too," he admits as everyone chuckles.

Hotch looks at Garcia. "Stay off their computers today until you and Kevin figure out how that program restarted."

"No need to tell me twice, sir," Garcia admits with a shiver.

"Keep running backgrounds as you get hits on license databases or as the M.E. gets them to you." Garcia nods. "Did Morgan or Emily ask you to run anything?"

"A couple things. I am sending them info on the bank accounts that I can find and they are talking to the bank manager this morning before starting back. I am also searching Ebay and other collector sites for some items Narvel Sessions claimed were in Skinny's office. If we can find the right combination of items it may help us track the jerk who stole them. They are going to get with Narvel before coming back here and see if he recognizes any I find."

"Good. The commune is now ours to investigate however we like. All bodies are gone and the police techs are finished. Let's see what we can find today to try to give them a direction to go in. By this evening I will need to make a statement to the press. I'd like to say enough to set minds at ease without tipping our hands if we are looking for someone who killed all these people. Any questions?" Hotch glances around but everyone seems ready to work. "Good. Let's get going."

* * *

Five minutes later Hotch and JJ stand just inside the door of Hut 11. They both scan the room, studying it for places that could conceal the journals. JJ suddenly turns to Hotch.

"They won't be here."

"What?"

"Think about it: if she was worried enough to move them, she wouldn't hide them in her hut. She'd hide them where the unsub wouldn't look for them. He or she would look here if they were that important," she points out.

"Shit, you're probably right, if we assume she did move them. We'll look around here just to be sure. I'll text Morgan that we need to know who Mavis was friends with, and least friendly with."

JJ nods and walks on in to the lockers. She can't help but glance towards the bathroom, irritated at the way things went the day before. They spend an hour in the hut which confirms the journals are not inside. They step outside and look around at the other huts.

"Were there other older residents?" JJ asks.

Hotch nods. "Hut 6. Rossi checked that one out."

Figuring older residents might be closer friends the two walk over to Hut 6 to check it out. As soon as they walk in JJ starts to chuckle.

"Well, you can tell guys lived here."

Hotch looks at her and raises an eyebrow. "I should be offended by that. My son and I live alone but our house doesn't look like a bachelor pad."

"True. But you are so Type A/OCD you probably break out in hives if you drop a sock on the way to the washer," JJ teases.

"Not as far as you know," Hotch jokes back.

The two look around and see piles of clothes beside beds instead of in laundry baskets like in the women's huts. They see a few dirty dishes on nightstands whereas in the women's huts the dishes had been stacked by the sinks after being washed. Hotch shakes his head.

"I didn't even live like this in college."

JJ turns and gives him a funny face. "See this? It's my 'gee I am so shocked' face."

He laughs. "You're too peppy lately. The babies are making you goofy."

JJ just grins as the two split up to see if they can find the missing journals or anything else that could help them narrow in on just who it was that murdered these people, for that is definitely what they all believe happened here. They are 45 minutes into their search when Hotch calls out to JJ.

"JJ, can you come here a second?"

JJ walks over and joins him by the lockers. "What's up?"

"There's a hollow behind this wall. And it looks like there's a switch or something behind the lockers but my arms too thick to reach it. Think you can hit it?"

JJ looks and shrugs. "We can try. My whole body is swelling so here goes nothing."

She starts to slide her hand in. It's a bit tight but she makes it to the switch. She flips it and a small panel down near the floor pops open. She starts to pull her hand out.

"Well fuck," she mutters.

She twists and turns her hand. She slides it up, she slides it down, then glares at Hotch. "I swear to God if you don't get me out of this before Morgan and Emily find out I will make your life a living hell," she threatens her boss.

For his part, Hotch is fighting back giggles. He fails and starts to laugh as he looks around for something to use as a lever to move the lockers enough to give JJ room to pull out her hand. He finds a broom and prays the handle won't break until she is free. He slides it between the wall and lockers and pulls back. As soon as she feels a little give, JJ pulls.

"Oh, thank God," she blurts as her hand pops out. "It would have been so embarrassing if you'd had to go get help to free me."

Hotch smiles. "I know. And dangerous to my health for sure."

"Most definitely."

Hotch tosses the broom aside and bends down to look into the opening. He frowns as he reaches in and pulls out a bag.

"Not journals." He opens it and sees watches, rings, necklaces. He looks up at JJ. "None of the people were wearing jewelry. We though the unsub stole it. What if they had to give it up for some reason? A few get together to hide the pieces most personal to them."

"Or maybe the most valuable?"

Hotch tips the contents onto a bed. He shakes his head. "No, it's not necessarily valuable. That looks to be a mood ring," he notes, pointing to one.

JJ rolls her eyes. "Boys…eesh. Hotch, that's a Harlequin opal. Probably worth more than all the rest combined."

Hotch looks back down at the ring. "Oh. Wow. Pretty."

"Yes, it is."

Hotch pulls on some gloves and carefully repacks the jewelry. "We need to get this processed and have a jeweler appraise the pieces. That will tell us if it's a personal stash or a stolen stash."

JJ nods in agreement and looks around. "I'm not seeing anywhere else the journals could be hidden in here."

Hotch shakes his head. "Me neither. I'll get Derringer and head back to the bunker. She may have hidden them in there to keep them safe."

"Could be. I'll keep checking the huts. And Hotch?" He turns back to her. "Thanks for not making me go to the bunker."

He grins. "Don't want to send you into another bout of morning sickness. You and the twins have had enough stress already."

She grins and nods her agreement. They walk out and split up to continue the hunt for the elusive journals.

* * *

Morgan extends his hands to Harold Shahi, bank manager for the credit union the commune used.

"Thank you for meeting with us, Mr. Shahi," the agent says.

"My…uh, I nearly said 'my pleasure' but there's nothing pleasurable about this situation, is there?"

"I'm afraid not," Emily agrees.

The three sit down. Morgan leans forward. "I assume you were informed to freeze the accounts?"

He nods. "Yes. Derringer contacted me on Sunday and we immediately stopped all payments on the account. Any checks that were written prior to Sunday have been put on hold and we've notified the banks that cleared them that the funds will be released by the D.A.'s office once the investigation is concluded."

"Perfect. If there are any issues there they can contact the FBI for additional information."

"Thank you. Now, what can I do to help?" the man asks.

Emily sits forward. "Without giving us specific numbers, how was the commune doing?"

"Very well. They came to us about 14 years ago when someone convinced Mr. Pines that the credit union would give them better dividends on their money, allowing them to do more on their own. When they decided to go into web hosting we were happy to loan them the start up money and that loan was paid back in just 2 years. They have been wonderful additions to our credit union," he concludes.

"So no issues with the, uh, hippy-esque lifestyle?" Emily asks.

Shahi chuckles. "I am sure some of our more conservative board members don't approve of commune life but they can't complain too much about the benefits of having them in our midst. To be honest, they were our third largest account. Their money afforded us the ability to make loans and investments that have helped all our customers."

"That's good to know," Emily says as she makes a note in her tablet.

"In your dealings with them, did they ever act like they were concerned about anything? Either another commune member or maybe the outside world?" Morgan asks.

Shahi shakes his head. "No. Of course my tellers dealt more with them than I did but in my dealings with them I never sensed they were worried about anyone or anything. And none of my tellers have mentioned anything."

"Would it be okay if we talked to each of your tellers? Sometimes something small, maybe something almost said as an aside, if you will, can lead us to a new clue as to what happened," Emily explains.

Shahi nods. "Of course. Most of them work today so you should be able to speak with all of them." He stands. "You can use our conference room. I'll send them into you."

"Thanks," Morgan says. "We really appreciate the cooperation."

"Agent Morgan, if someone killed all those people, my God…men, women and children…" he shakes his head. "We want them caught, Agent. And we want them to pay for what they've done."

Morgan and Emily nod in agreement. They interview three tellers over the next 2 hours. Just as they were beginning to think the trip to the bank is a bust, Shahi hurries back in.

"Agents, someone just tried to use a debit card associated with the accounts."

Emily and Morgan stand. "Where?" she asks.

"Gas station out on the highway," he answers, handing her a piece of paper.

"Thanks!"

Morgan and Emily race out to their SUV, hoping they will be able to see someone on security tapes at the gas station. It could just be another survivor or it could be their unsub!

* * *

Rossi and Reid sit down on a couch across from Wynn Station. The psychologist who had been picked as his foster parent for the moment observes the interview. He had made it clear he would stop the questioning if he felt it was doing more harm than good. Rossi leans forward, his elbows on his knees, his hands clasped casually together.

"Wynn, thank you for agreeing to speak with us again. We just have a few more questions for you."

"Can I see my mom yet?" the boy asks, suddenly seeming much younger than he is.

Rossi's eyes flick to the shrink then back to Wynn. "Not yet. The medical examiner has to finish. Trust me, son, you don't want to see her right now."

"What about Rain? Can I see Rain?"

Rossi sighs. "I'm…afraid not."

"Is anyone alive still? Am I the only one left?"

"A man named Narvel Sessions arrived last night."

Wynn sits up straighter. "He did? Where is he? I want to see him."

"That can be arranged," Rossi says. "Right now he's at a hotel trying to rest. He's been up for a lot of hours. The two of you will be reunited soon."

Wynn seems to relax a little knowing someone he knows is still okay. "So, uh, what can I tell you?"

"Mavis Burdick was the secretary, right?"

Wynn nods. "Yeah. Since the start, I think. A lot of years at least."

"Do you know where she might put her journals if she was worried about them?"

He thinks a moment. "They were always in the office on her bookshelf. Come to think of it they weren't there last week."

"Last week? So before that they were right were they should be?" Rossi confirms.

Wynn nods. "Yeah. We used to laugh about the way she kept them. She noted _everything_ in them. She had so many and each was coded and specific. She was her own computer system, you know?"

Rossi smiles and nods. "I understand. I still do most of my notes by hand. Us old birds don't change much."

Wynn smiles. "Yeah, I guess not." He is quiet a moment. "If they aren't in the office I just don't know where she'd put them."

"Was she close to anyone? Maybe someone she would trust to keep them if she was worried about them?"

Wynn shrugs. "She was kind of friends with everyone. She'd been there so long, you know?"

Reid suddenly sits forward. "Wynn, you mentioned an old hunter's cabin. Did Mavis know about it?"

Wynn shrugs. "I don't know. Maybe. I mean, it's been there for years so probably."

"Was it a prefab home kind of place or a homemade cabin?"

"It was like a building. Like you see at Home Depot or something," Wynn tells him.

Reid looks at Rossi. "It would have been bought. She'd have to know it was there because she'd have been the one logging in the money spent."

Rossi nods, "I agree." He looks back at Wynn. "Can you tell us exactly how to get there?"

Wynn nods. "Sure. It's not too hard if you know what to look for."

He takes the notepad Rossi hands him and writes out directions with a crude map. Reid snaps a picture of it and texts it to Hotch with a message explaining what it is and what it might hide. Rossi reaches over and squeezes Wynn's hand.

"You did really good today, Wynn. Just one last question." He opens a folder he had with him. He pulls out 2 mug shots of the Harrow cousins. "Do you know these two people?"

Wynn looks at the pictures. "Yeah. That's David Harrow and Samantha Calvin."

"Samantha Calvin?" Rossi confirms.

Wynn nods. "Yeah. She came about a year after David and his sister Judith arrived."

"So you knew Judith Harrow, too?"

Wynn nods. "Yeah. But she didn't act like David's sister. I think someone confronted her one time about it but they left."

"The person that confronted them left?"

Wynn nods. "Yeah. Pretty much anytime one of the Harrows was confronted about something the other person would leave."

"Did the person that departed take the time to say goodbye?" Rossi asks.

"Not usually. They'd just be gone," his voice trails off. "They didn't just leave, did they?" he asks, tears welling in his eyes as he is hit once more by the scope of what has happened.

The foster parent steps forward. "Agents, I know time is of the essence…"

Rossi nods. "We understand." He squeezes Wynn's hand. "You did really, really good again today, Wynn. Your mother would be very proud of you."

Wynn nods, a tear sliding down his cheek. "Find who did this, sir. Please? I don't think I'll ever sleep again until I know what happened."

"We'll do our best and I promise to keep you informed," Rossi vows to the brave young man.

When Rossi and Reid get out to the SUV, they exchange a look. "So Samantha Calvin swaps identities with Judith Harrow? Why?" Reid asks.

"Damned if I know," Rossi admits. "And if they are changing i.d.'s why not pretend to be husband and wife instead of siblings?"

Reid nods. "Good question. Unless seduction was part of their scam."

"That would make sense. And when they get things just the way they want them, they kill everyone and make off with the money. Only they aren't getting the money. None of this makes any damn sense!"

"You forgot the part where the Harrows are double-crossed by Calvin." He pulls out his phone. "Let's get Garcia running that name. Might be an alias, too."

"Could be." Rossi turns the SUV on and starts back towards the commune. "We're coming up with too many dead ends. I don't like it."

"I second that," Reid agrees as his phone dials the tech goddess. "Garcia, we have another name for you to run…"

* * *

Hotch and Derringer take deep breaths to steel themselves before entering the bunker. Sure the mutilated bodies were gone but the horror of what they had seen, not to mention the blood spatter, remains.

"This sucks," Hotch mutters as he walks in.

The two men search the bunker carefully. They find the gun cabinets…which are scarily empty. They find a safe; also empty. Only the food stores remain. They search all over but still no journals.

"This makes no damn sense!" Hotch states in frustration. "What could she possibly have in those journals that would make hiding them such a priority."

"You know, if the unsub did this, he could have burned them. Bet this place had a burn pit somewhere," Derringer points out.

Hotch rolls his eyes. "Fuck. Hadn't considered that." The two men walk back out of the bunker. "We'll need to…" he breaks off as he gets a text. "The hunter's cabin! Good idea, Reid," he says. He holds his phone towards Derringer. "How close is this?"

Derringer shakes his head. "Not very. That's the other side of the property."

"Damn. Thought so." He places a call. "JJ? I'm going to text you a map to the hunter's cabin. Get one of the deputies to drive you up there. It's a prefab building, maybe shed style, but Mavis would have definitely known about it."

"On it, Hotch."

Hotch hangs up and pockets his phone. Derringer is leaning against his truck. "How close are you to giving a statement to the press? I only ask because I just got a text from my secretary threatening my life."

Hotch grins. "Sorry about that. Tell her she can put out word I will address the press at the gates to the commune at 5 p.m. That should give us time to put together a whole lot of nothing for them."

Derringer nods. "Works for me."

The two men get in the sheriff's vehicle to make their way back to the commune.

* * *

Emily groans as Morgan rolls his eyes. They are watching the security tapes at the gas station…and see Narvel Sessions at the check out counter.

"Okay, why does he have a card from the commune? And where the hell is he going?" Morgan asks.

"Look what he's buying: easily carried food, snacks, bottles of water. Bet he's going to hike onto the land like that reporter did. He wants answers and he wants them sooner than we can get them to him."

"Shit." Morgan has the store manager shift to an outside view. He gets the car information and places a call. "Hotch? Sessions may be trying to get back on the commune. Have Derringer put out a BOLO on him. Tell the cops to remember he is just a distraught son looking for answers and not to go too hard on him."

"Will do. Are you on your way back?"

"Yeah, we're coming. If they take Sessions into custody just hold him there. We'll talk to him again and see if we can get him to cooperate."

"Sounds good. See you soon."

Morgan hangs up and looks at Emily. "So, ready to go?"

Emily nods. "Definitely. The answers we need are there somewhere."

"I agree. There's something else there, too."

"What's that?"

"My bed. I plan to get a nap in at some point today," he replies with a grin.

Emily chuckles. "Yeah, that's sounding good to me, too."

* * *

JJ walks into the office building. "Garcia?" No answer. "Pen?"

JJ frowns and pauses. Something doesn't seem right. She winces. Crap…had Garcia started working on one of the booby-trapped computers again? JJ hurries over to the web hub but Garcia isn't there.

"Maybe she went to the bathroom or to the serenity tent," JJ mumbles.

She heads towards the main office to leave her a note about the trek to the cabin. As she walks into the room she hears a whimper. JJ freezes when she sees Garcia standing in the corner, obviously terrified. She starts towards her best friend.

"Fuck! Did you get on one of those compu- -UNGH!"

"NO! She's pregnant! Don't hurt her!" Garcia begs.

Someone had clubbed her from behind, taking her to her knees. Someone. Someone. No, not someone, it's the unsub, she tells herself. And Garcia had seen them! JJ reaches towards her ankle, her head pounding and her vision blurry. Though she feels like she is moving in slow motion, JJ starts to pull up her pant leg to get to her clutch piece. Before she can her head explodes again. She drops the rest of the way to the ground, unconscious.


	12. Chapter 12

JJ's attacker kneels down and places the barrel of her gun against the back of JJ's head. "Let's go or I put a bullet in her brain."

Garcia just nods and precedes Samantha Calvin out the backdoor of the offices and into a waiting SUV.

"You drive," Samantha orders. "Do anything stupid and I'll go back and finish off your friend. Do what I say and you can go free soon."

"What do you need me to do?" Garcia asks fearfully as she drives in the direction Samantha orders.

"Not many people could disable my little bug, let alone do it twice. I bet you can get my bank accounts opened again, can't you?"

"I…I don't…maybe," Garcia mumbles.

"Well, you get me that money and transfer it over to a special account of mine and you get to live. Fail and, well, they'll never find your body."

Garcia whimpers again. She takes the next road that Calvin orders. She knows enough to know she'll never get out of this alive no matter what. Her only chance is to play along as long as possible and pray the others find her before she finishes doing what Samantha wants.

* * *

Morgan and Emily catch up to Narvel…at the gates to the commune. Emily looks at Morgan.

"Okay, I didn't see this happening. What's he doing?"

Morgan shrugs. "I have no idea."

The two agents park along the side of the road and get out. They watch as Narvel passes out drinks and snacks to the National Guardsmen at the gate. He smiles as they walk up.

"I know you told me to rest but, well, I couldn't. Instead I decided to live for others as Skinny always taught us."

Morgan grins. "Nice idea, man. I do have one question, though. Why do you have a card attached to the commune accounts?"

Narvel frowns in confusion. "Why what? I don't. Used my Mastercard. Gets me travel points."

Emily frowns. "Are you serious? You didn't use a Visa debit card?"

Narvel shakes his head. "No. Why would I have a commune card?"

"Son of a bitch," Morgan mutters as he pulls out his phone. "Rossi? You two still in Socorro?" He nods as he listens. "I'm sending you an address. Around the same time Narvel was buying stuff at a convenience store someone else was using a commune card. Prentiss and I saw Narvel and didn't double check the time stamp," he adds shamefully. He hangs up and looks at Emily. "We fucked up."

"Yeah, we did," she agrees. "Let's get into the commune and see if we can make up for this." She turns to Narvel. "Out of curiosity, if Mavis had to hide something, where might she put it?"

He thinks a second. "Well, if not in her hut maybe…maybe the school hut. There's a storage closet in there that the teachers use. No one else does."

Emily nods. "Thanks, Narvel. And, about what you did for the soldiers, thanks for that, too. Says a lot about your character that you think of them when you're dealing with all that you are."

He shrugs humbly. "Skinny and my mother would be upset if I forgot their teachings."

Emily nods and jogs to catch up with Morgan at the SUV. Once inside the gates, he drives right to the class hut. Emily pulls out her phone.

"Going to call Garcia and let her know we're here."

He nods as she hits Garcia's number. The two agents go inside to find the closet Emily hadn't found during her search of this building. She gets Garcia's voicemail.

"Hey, Pen, Morgan and I are back. We're in the class hut following up on a lead. See you in a few."

She hangs up and stares at the building. She shakes her head. "The only closet of any type I saw was that one," she points to the one with the horrible mural inside.

Morgan walks over and opens the door. He grimaces as he turns on the black light and sees what Emily had found. "That's just fucked," he states.

"Yep. Morgan, there is no other closet."

"Nope. It was emptied to make room for…for that shit."

Emily sighs. "Her notebooks are gone, aren't they?"

"Most likely. Come on, let's go see what was found here today."

Emily nods and follows him out of the hut. "Maybe we can check in and get a couple hours down time."

"Cross your fingers," he says.

As they walk into the offices, they hear a moan. The two exchange a look and pull their guns. That was a groan of pain, not of frustration. They slowly move forward, guns up. Morgan pauses as Emily checks the computer room.

"Clear," she whispers.

They hear a thump from the office Garcia is using and slowly move closer. Morgan stiffens when he sees JJ on the floor, the red on the back of her head a stark contrast to her blonde hair.

"Fuck," he mutters and quicksteps forward.

It takes every ounce of self control in her body to keep Emily from racing past him to her wife, who is starting to come around and trying to regain her feet, leading to the thump they heard. Morgan quickly clears the office and drops down beside JJ.

"JJ!"

"Unngghh…shut…up…" she mumbles.

Emily drops down beside her as Morgan pulls his phone to call for help.

"Easy, Jennifer. What the fuck…what happened to you? Where's Garcia?"

"I…don't know…" JJ slowly rolls over, her eyes completely unfocused as Emily cradles her close. "She was…scared. Thought she…got in computers again. Then…nothing."

"Son of a bitch," Emily mutters. "Just stay still, baby. Help is on the way."

JJ tries to shake her head then moans and grabs it. "No. Gotta…find her."

"Jen, you're bleeding, your eyes are unfocused," Emily tells her. "You have a concussion and you know it."

"Fuck," JJ mutters, unable to argue or come up with a better response.

Morgan kneels down. "Did you hear anything?"

"No," JJ mutters. "Just saw her and hurried into the room. I just…thought she was paranoid again like…yesterday. I'm sorry, Morgan."

"Hey, now, no apologies. Your first thought was to help her. With what she's doing what else would you think?"

A deputy runs into the room. "The sheriff said I should take Agent Jareau and Agent Prentiss to the hospital. It will be quicker than waiting for an ambulance."

Emily nods. "Good." She stands, JJ in her arms.

"No, Em. Stay. Find Pen. Please," JJ begs.

Emily stares into her wife's eyes. "Jennifer, no…"

"She needs help, Em. Please…find her. Make up for me…failing her," JJ begs harder.

Emily fights an internal battle because she knows her wife's request is the right thing to do. She says nothing just carries her out to the waiting SUV. The deputy opens the back door so Emily can let JJ lie down. Emily strokes a hand down her cheek.

"I'd be beside you," she states.

JJ nods. "I know. But Pen needs you more right now."

They share a kiss filled with love. Emily leans back and looks at the deputy.

"Avoid the sirens when you can. It will make her head feel worse. And make sure you tell them she's 21 weeks pregnant!"

The man nod. "Yes, ma'am. I'll call ahead to the ER so they will be waiting for us."

"Thank you." She turns back to her wife. "I love you."

"I love you, too."

Closing the door to that vehicle is one of the hardest things Emily has ever had to do. She turns to Morgan.

"Call Kevin. See if he can find Garcia's phones."

"One is on the desk," Morgan notes.

"Then at least one is in her pocket. She carries 3 or 4," Emily points out. She looks down and sees the blood on her shirt from JJ's head wound. "I need…to change."

Morgan just nods as he calls Kevin. Once alone in the RV Emily let's her emotions fly. She draws back her fist and punches the mirror on the door to the bedroom. Twice. She takes a few deep breaths, trying to calm the rage in her body.

Doesn't work.

She'd been walking a line for a long time now. Today could be the day she crosses it when she finds the person that dared to raise a hand to her wife and, consequently, her children.

* * *

Hotch answers his phone. "What's up, Morgan?"

"Someone took Garcia."

"WHAT?! WHO?!"

"No idea. Hotch, JJ walked in on the kidnapping. Didn't see anyone but got hit in the back of the head."

Hotch looks at Derringer. "I need an ambulance for one of my agents."

"Be quicker to have a deputy drive them," Derringer says as he pulls out his phone and steps on the gas.

Hotch nods and goes back to Morgan. "Be there in 5 minutes. Wait! Maybe they are going to the hunter's cabin. I'll text the info. Where's Prentiss' head?"

"She's with JJ right now. She'll be solid, Hotch."

"Good. I'll send you the directions to the hunter's cabin and meet you there."

"Sounds good."

Hotch pockets the phone and says a few choice curses to himself. "I spread my team too thin."

"What?"

"No one should have been alone. Now my analyst is missing and an agent is down. Fuck!" He slams his hand into the dashboard.

Maybe that damn commission was right to take a look at his team.

* * *

When Rossi and Reid get the call from Morgan they detour to the convenience store to look at the tapes once more. Using the time stamp Garcia had logged they see a man buying lots of easy to carry and keep snacks, much like Narvel had done. But this time they notice the man does his best to hide his face. His hat brim is pulled low and he keeps his head down. Other than height and weight they have nothing.

"So who the hell is this guy?" Rossi mutters. "Shit, he finally paid cash."

Reid shrugs. "I don't know. I'll call Garcia to see if she knows any associates of Calvin or the Harrows." He hits her number.

"Reid, it's Hotch."

Reid frowns. "Oh, uh, sorry. Thought I hit Garcia's number."

"You did," the chief confirms then explains what happened.

"Holy shit! Is JJ okay?"

"Seems to be. Morgan and Emily are on their way to the cabin. Derringer and I are on the way now. Just had to stop and check something for Kevin so he can start searching for Garcia."

"We're on our way," Reid says, hurrying towards the door, Rossi following him. "Hotch, an unknown man tried to use a commune credit card this morning. Bought gas and some easily carried snacks and drinks with cash finally."

"Shit. He may be planning to meet up with whoever it is that has Garcia."

"Hotch, if they make her free up the accounts or transfer money they won't need her," Reid points out.

"I know. Let's pray she can stall long enough that we catch up to her."

Hotch hangs up and hurries out to Derringer's SUV. He calls Kevin.

"Lynch, what do you have?"

"Penny's personal phone is on its way to that cabin you mentioned. Should be there in 2 or 3 minutes."

"Morgan and Prentiss?"

"About 20 minutes behind but catching up. Garcia's vehicle isn't driving as fast as theirs is."

"Good. The unsub doesn't know we're onto them yet. Can you block electronic signals from that area?"

"Yes, sir. But it will block cell phones, too. I'll have to block the tower they installed there at the commune."

Hotch thinks a second. "Do it."

"Yes, sir. You'll be going dark in 3 minutes."

"Good. I'll send a text to warn everyone." Hotch hangs up and tells Derringer what's going on as he sends a text to the rest of the team.

Derringer glances at the man beside him. "This Garcia…she's not a full agent, right?"

"No. But she's smart and she won't panic. She'll do what she can to stall."

"Why take her?"

"The money. They want her to free up the accounts."

Derringer nods. "Makes sense." He shakes his head. "We pretty much knew but didn't officially know it was about the money. All these people for…for nothing."

"It was about more than the money. The unsub got off on slowly taking over these people's lives and then killing them and setting them up to look like blind cultists following a leader to their death. They are a sociopath of the highest order."

"I know a little about profiling. You're warning me they won't go quietly."

"No, they won't. They won't hesitate to kill any of us or themselves. They have to win, even if that just means avoiding jail on their own terms."

"Son of a bitch. I want them to pay, Hotch. I want them to live the rest of their life in a cage for what they've done here."

"I second that," Hotch agrees.

* * *

"Pull right up to the steps," Calvin orders Garcia.

Garcia does as ordered. Calvin reaches over and takes the keys. "Get out."

Garcia obeys and Calvin meets her at the front of the vehicle. She gestures for Garcia to precede her into the cabin. She places a laptop on the table in the single room dwelling.

"Sit down and get logged into the bank," she orders.

Garcia sighs, moving as slow as she can without drawing undue scrutiny. After a few minutes she frowns.

"I have no signal," she tells her captor.

"WHAT?!" The woman screams. She pulls out her own cell phone and sees no bars. "How the FUCK is that possible?!"

Garcia is not sure if she should answer or not so she remains silent. Calvin walks over and places the gun at the blonde's temple.

"How the fuck is this possible?" she asks menacingly, answering Garcia's unasked question.

Garcia swallows. "Pr- -pro- -probably got cut if they found JJ…uh, Agent Jareau and saw me missing," she guesses.

"Turn it back ON!" she pokes her hard in the temple.

"I can't! I swear I can't! It would have to be initiated by an agent and be done through the phone company, not our computers. We can't block communications like this in the field," she lies, praying Calvin doesn't know better.

Calvin starts to pace, muttering incoherently as she goes. Finally she comes to a decision. "Get up. We'll drive out of here on a back road and do the transfer from another town somewhere."

Garcia stands and folds up the laptop, making sure to leave its modem on. If all is going as she thinks it is, Hotch had Kevin block the phone signals. Hopefully he is also tracking the personal phone in her pocket and maybe picking up on the signal from the computer, too, if he's trying to find other signals near hers.

"Where do I go?" Garcia asks as she gets behind the wheel once more.

Calvin reaches over and puts the keys in the ignition. "Back the way we came. I'll tell you when to turn."

Garcia turns on the SUV and starts to drive back down the dirt road. As they turn one corner they see another SUV flying towards them.

"STOP!" Calvin shouts.

Garcia stomps the brake pedal. Morgan had done the same. The two SUV's are now in a standoff, like two cowboys at high noon.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck," Calvin mutters over and over. "Back to the cabin. NOW!"

"Uh, I don't have room to turn around," Garcia notes.

Calvin puts her gun to Garcia's head. "Use. Reverse. GO!"

Garcia swallows and twists in the seat as she puts it in reverse to practically crawl back to the cabin.

* * *

Morgan can feel the tension radiating off his partner; his friend. "Prentiss, you clear headed on this?"

"Would you be?"

"Emily…"

She takes a deep breath. "I don't know, Derek. I just…don't know."

Before he can push for more he sees the other vehicle come around the corner. As both cars come to a halt, the agents see the fear in Garcia's eyes. When Calvin puts the gun against her head, Emily growls.

It is then Morgan knows he may have to stop his partner before she crosses a line she will never forgive herself for crossing.

He starts to follow Garcia as she carefully picks her way backwards back up the road, which is more an ATV trail. The narrow road combined with her fear is not helping her keep it straight.

"Easy, Baby Girl," he coaches from afar. "No need to speed. No need to do anything but stay alive.

Emily's hand is wrapped around the butt of her gun so tightly her fingers start to tingle. She eases her grip enough to let the blood flow once more. That woman with Garcia had attacked JJ. She had to have seen JJ is pregnant but attacked her anyway. She takes a few calming breaths. There would be no shooting to injure. There would be no warning shot. She would shoot to kill and to hell with the consequences.

"Prentiss, when we get to the cabin she'll take Garcia inside. Go around back and make sure she doesn't try to get out that way while we wait for Hotch and Derringer."

"No."

He grabs her arm. "You will FOLLOW orders or I will cuff your ass and leave you in here. You're not throwing your life or career away, Emily. Not on my watch!"

Emily levels a glare at him. "Don't you fucking try to babysit me, Derek Morgan."

"I'll do what I have to do to protect you from yourself. JJ wouldn't want you to do this, Emily. You know it."

Yes, he's right. No, she doesn't care. Morgan sees that and shakes his head. Garcia stops right near the steps to the cabin. Calvin drags her out the passenger side, keeping her close as Morgan pulls to a stop a little ways away.

"STAY BACK OR SHE'S DEAD!" Calvin threatens as she drags Garcia up the two steps and back into the cabin.

As Emily goes to get out of the SUV, Morgan grabs her arm and cuffs her wrist to the steering wheel.

"WHAT THE FUCK?!"

He grabs the keys from her hand as she tries to unlock herself. He grabs her gun in case she tries to shoot herself free.

"Be pissed at me. I'll get over it."

He gets out and positions himself behind the hood of the SUV to wait for Hotch and Derringer. He ignores Emily cussing him, his potential offspring, his dog and anything else she can think of.

* * *

Hotch and Derringer pull in beside Morgan's SUV. Hotch glances once at the agent cussing the world from the front seat. He raises an eyebrow at Morgan.

"Report."

"Unsub is a female. She dragged Garcia back into the cabin at gunpoint." He glances to the SUV. "She's not thinking clearly, Hotch. I have her gun and her cuff keys."

Hotch nods. "Go around back and make sure they can't try to get out via the woods. We won't make contact until Rossi and Reid get here."

"Yes, sir," Morgan says, handing Emily's gun over. He then moves off to watch the back.

Hotch glances at Derringer. "Keep an eye on the door while I talk to the hothead in the car."

Derringer nods, his gun trained on the door as he watches for any sign of what the people inside are doing. Hotch walks over and opens Emily's door.

"Uncuff me," she demands immediately, her eyes wild with fury.

Hotch studies her carefully. "No."

She grabs him by the front of the shirt. "Damn it, I deserve a chance at that bitch!"

"Are you even hearing yourself? Are you? Son of a bitch, Emily, _listen_ to what you are saying! You aren't thinking about justice, you're thinking about revenge. I've been down that road before. I won't let you walk it, too."

She stares into his eyes. "You…you got a chance at Foyet. I deserve a chance- -"

"No, you don't. You'd feel fine now but later it would eat you up inside. You could never look at your wife or kids again without knowing you betrayed everything you stood for just to get revenge. Jennifer Jareau Prentiss is alive. Do you really want to face her and tell her she's the reason you're losing your badge? Or worse? I only have to face Hailey in my dreams and that's hard enough."

Emily leans back in the seat, her emotions starting to settle a little. "She's pregnant and she was bleeding and she'd already been- -"

"I know. I know all of that, Emily. I can't imagine what you're feeling but I do know what you will feel if I let you out of this car and you ignore your badge, ignore your oath, ignore the fact that your son calls you Batman." He offers her gun to her. "Can you take this and know you can look at them when all this shit is done?"

She takes a deep breath and reaches for the gun. Her hand stops. "I…I don't know…I just…don't know, Hotch," she answers honestly.

"Good." He puts the gun in her holster and leans over to uncuff her. "Get with Morgan around back. Tell him you owe him for this."

Emily nods and gets out, shame in her eyes. "I was a real shit to him."

"Yep. He'll have fun kicking your ass over it for sure," he replies.

"Yeah, he will. I'll need a sick day the day after," she says as she pulls on her vest and grabs Morgan's.

"Might need more than a day. He's pretty damn pissed."

"Yeah, I know," Emily says. "I'll make it right with him. Promise."

"Good. Plan to see a shrink when this is over."

"Yes, sir."

Emily hurries into the woods and around to the back of the house. Morgan sees her and pins her with an icy stare. She tosses him his Kevlar vest.

"I'm an ass. You can kick it later."

"Plan on it," he nods as he puts his vest on.

"And Morgan?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry for all the shit I said."

He nods. "We'll discuss it after I put your ass in traction."

Emily sighs, knowing she has a lot of groveling to do for putting her best friend in the position she did. Not to mention for the horrible things she had said. The two move to opposite ends of the house so they can watch both sides as well as the backdoor.

* * *

"What the fuck do we do? Shit, shit, shit…"

"Um, can I make a suggestion?" Garcia asks her agitated captor.

The woman spins and levels her gun at Garcia. "WHAT?!"

"You need to reach out to them. More and more agents and cops will come. If you wait too long they will just plan to bust in here."

Calvin starts to pace again as she considers what the analyst has said. For so many years her preparation and planning had not failed her. She'd be a grifter for a lot of years and only done time a couple times when her partners had failed her. But this time they had planned to kill the partners, too. She had met the perfect man a few years back and together they had come up with the ultimate score. It had been so easy! Integrate themselves in this idiotic bunch of hippies with money. Seduce that idiot Harrow and get his sister to help, too. She had been shocked when she saw how much the internet hosting had earned this group of people and carefully hatched her plan.

Now her partners were dead, her husband was waiting for her at their rendezvous point with the firearms and small amount of cash they had already recovered, and she had no windfall to show for 4 years of work. She glares at Garcia.

"You talk. I'll be right behind you and don't think I won't blow your fucking brains out if you try to get away," she threatens.

Garcia nods and moves towards the door. "What do you want me to say to them?"

"Tell them to pull back, let us go, and I'll release you later unharmed. Tell them I'm willing to die here before risking jail."

Garcia eases open the door. She sees Hotch and Derringer staring at the cabin and hears another vehicle coming.

"SHE WANTS YOU ALL TO LEAVE, LET US GO, AND THEN SHE'LL LET ME GO LATER!"

Hotch lifts a megaphone. "We can't do that, Garcia."

"SHE'S WILLING TO DIE HERE IF YOU DON'T AND TAKE AS MANY OF US OUT WITH HER AS SHE CAN!"

"YOU HAVE 5 MINUTES!" Calvin yells over Garcia's shoulder as she jerks her back into the cabin and slams the door.

She pushes Garcia into a chair and continues to pace. Suddenly she turns and pins Garcia with a glare.

"What did you do?"

Garcia starts. "Uh, what? When? I'm just sitting right here!"

"At the door! What did you do? Did you signal them? Did you do something to- -"

"Nothing! I swear! I won't do anything that could get me or them hurt. I promise."

As she had spoken, Garcia had seen Morgan's head peek up above the back window. She feels better knowing her team has her surrounded. She decides to try talking to the woman again.

"It really would be better if you just give up. Then I can tell the police and lawyers and stuff that you were willing to do the right thing. Then instead of- -"

Calvin storms towards her and puts the gun barrel against Garcia's forehead. "Shut the fuck up! I'm not giving up. They better let us go or you die right here with me, got it?"

Garcia gives as small a nod as possible as Calvin starts to pace once more.


	13. Chapter 13

Reid and Rossi are racing, lights and sirens on, back to the commune. They slow only long enough for the National Guard to open the gates then continue towards the trail that leads to the hunter's cabin. As they pull up beside Hotch and Derringer they park to help block the trail out of the area.

"What's going on?" Rossi asks as he walks up, still securing his Kevlar vest, Reid right behind him.

"She just made Garcia demand to let them go, promising to release Garcia unharmed later."

"Right," Rossi mutters. "Morgan and Prentiss around back?"

"Yes." The two senior agents stare at each other. No words need to be exchanged. "Son of a bitch."

Rossi raises an eyebrow. "It's the only way, Aaron. You know it."

"What's the only way?" Derringer asks.

"We have to let them go or we lose Garcia and we lose the suspect. We need answers. There is another accomplice and we need him, too."

"The guy at the convenience store," Derringer notes.

"Yes. We need them both or she could put everything off on him and create reasonable doubt."

"How do we do it?" Derringer asks.

Hotch looks at Reid. "Move Morgan's SUV. Rossi, move yours. Make sure sees they have a clear shot to get out of here. As soon as we can, we can get Kevin tracking Garcia's personal phone and we follow at a discreet distance. She has to believe they are free and that Garcia can get them the money they want."

"Kevin should be able to locate the nearest tower Garcia could use," Reid notes. "We could have police waiting there to follow them a little farther back to keep from being seen."

Hotch nods. "Good idea." He looks at Derringer. "Get your men to find an aerial map of this area and let's cover all potential ways they can leave other than the main gate. Position a car at each of them."

Derringer nods and goes to radio in the orders. Hotch watches as Reid and Rossi move the vehicles then lifts the megaphone once more.

"In the cabin: we will allow you to leave."

Behind the cabin, Emily and Morgan exchange a look of shock.

A few seconds later the front door opens. Garcia looks terrified as she stands there.

"SHE SAYS IF IT'S A TRICK I'M DEAD!"

"No trick. We see no other solution to this standoff."

"SHE WANTS YOU TO PUT ALL THE KEYS INTO HER EXPLORER!"

"Son of a bitch," Hotch mutters. He hadn't expected that. He turns to Reid. "Collect the keys and put them in the drivers seat."

"All of them?"

"One set per vehicle."

Reid nods and makes a point of taking keys from all three police vehicles. He holds them up so those in the cabin can see and slowly walks towards the suspect's car. He opens the driver's door and places them on the dashboard then slowly backs away to Derringer's vehicle.

A moment later the door to the cabin opens and Garcia is forced out ahead of a woman who stands very, very close. Hotch, Rossi and Reid watch helplessly as their friend is pushed into the car from the passenger's side.

Then stare in awe as Garcia throws herself out the driver's side door and rolls towards the back of the Explorer.

"FREEZE! HANDS WHERE WE CAN SEE THEM!" Morgan yells as he runs towards the front of the car.

Emily comes from the back, pulls open the back door and puts her gun at the back of the suspects head.

"DROP YOUR GUN! DROP IT NOW!" she orders.

Calvin quickly evaluates the situation and knows she has no chance to get away. She tosses her gun out the door. Morgan races to the door, pulls her out and cuffs her as Emily keeps her gun trained on the woman.

Back at Derringer's car, Rossi looks at Hotch and says (in the way only Rossi can), "Well, that was unexpected."

Hotch rolls his eyes as Morgan calls clear. Reid hurries to Garcia as Hotch, Rossi and Derringer go to Morgan to get the suspect and read her her rights.

Emily slowly turns and walks away from everyone to collect herself. She leans against a tree, hating the fact that she still wanted nothing more than to pull the trigger. A hand falls on her shoulder.

"Nice job, partner," Morgan says softly.

"I wanted to pull the trigger, Derek. God, I wanted to so badly," she admits.

"I know. I'm proud you didn't."

"Wouldn't have mattered if I did."

"What?"

Her gun is still in her hand. She stares at it a moment then hands it to him. Morgan turns the Glock, his eyes wide with shock.

"You didn't…"

Emily just nods. There is no clip in the gun. He clears the slide…it is also empty. He looks up, meeting sad brown eyes with concern.

"I couldn't trust myself not to pull the trigger so…so I just…just…" her voice trails off.

He nods. "Understood."

"If you have to tell Hotch I get it, Morgan."

He shakes his head. "This is just between us. Way I see it, you still didn't pull the trigger. You did the right thing, Emily. Both in unloading the gun and not firing anyway."

She gives him a small smile. "Thanks. I need to see Jen. I mean…I know there's someone else out there but…"

Suddenly her eyes glaze over slightly. Morgan waits, seeing that she is suddenly clicking together pieces of the puzzle. She jumps up and runs to Reid, who is hugging a sobbing Garcia.

"REID! Did you read the background on the Harrows?"

He nods. "Yes."

"Did either background mention a family member? Or members?"

He shakes his head. "No."

"Strange. They are too organized."

His eyes widen as he sees where she is going. "Gypsies again?"

"Not necessarily gypsies but to be this intimate, this…this organized and patient, there has to be a bigger payoff and a way to move product quickly."

"Mafia?"

"More like…like…mercenaries."

He slowly nods. "And somewhere in the background of the Harrows or Samantha Calvin is the man from the convenience store and any other connection that would want money, guns or even this land."

Emily nods. "The man in the store wasn't a member here. I'll bet on it. But I bet he spent a lot of time here somewhere. We need to see those aerial shots again. We found the bunker and stopped checking out other areas of interest. What do you want to bet we'll find either another cabin or a trailer of some sort."

"Not taking that bet," Reid states.

Emily turns to Morgan. He just smiles. "Welcome back, partner."

Emily slowly nods. "Thanks. Are the maps still in the SUV?"

"Yes."

"Let's go."

He hands her back her gun. She pulls the clip out of her pocket and slams it into place. Morgan looks at Reid and Garcia.

"Garcia, get back to the office and see what you can find on…what's her name again, Reid?" Morgan asks.

"It's Samantha Calvin," Garcia answers. "I had just started to run her name when she walked in the door with a gun."

"Good. Reid see what has been found and figure out what more can be found."

"And, Reid, call for security for Jen. If this guy finds out we have Calvin he could go after Jen to try for a swap," Emily points out.

Reid nods. "Will do. Will get someone to cover Wynn, too, just to be safe."

"Narvel Sessions is out at the gates. Make sure he's brought in here so we can keep an eye on him, too," Emily suggests.

Reid nods and leads Garcia over to the SUV he and Rossi had driven. Morgan and Emily go over to Calvin's vehicle, pulling on gloves to do a quick check of the vehicle before heading out to check the other sites. Emily opens the backend as Morgan starts on the front seats.

"No registration, no insurance, no surprise," he says. Emily doesn't respond. He glances back and sees her studying the trunk. "What's wrong?"

"False bottom."

Morgan walks back. "What?"

She points. "They've manufactured a piece to give them a hidden storage area, probably just big enough to hold a couple long guns, a few handguns and small explosives."

He studies it a second. "I don't see what you're seeing."

"You never had to use something like this," Emily states.

She runs her fingers down one side, then the other. She then feels along the back of the seat and the edge between the hatch lid and the floor. She steps back and studies it a second then gets on the ground and slides under the back end, feeling up along both sides of the gas tank. She scoots out again.

"Okay. We should be safe."

"Uh, what?"

"I don't think it's booby trapped." She starts to lift the added piece but Morgan stops her.

"You don't _think_ it's booby trapped or it's _not_ booby trapped?"

Emily grins. "Live dangerously, buddy."

"I'd rather just live, thank you."

Testament to his belief in her, he doesn't step away as she releases the hidden latch and pops it open. Morgan's jaw drops.

"Holy shit!"

Emily nods. "Yep."

They stare at the AK-47, Uzi, and three Smith and Wesson .45's. But what concerns them is the empty space.

"We need that tested," Morgan says unnecessarily as he snaps a couple pictures with his phone.

"Yep. But our phones are down. We'll leave a note for the CSI's Hotch will call to collect this vehicle. In the meantime," she grabs two handguns and the Uzi. "We'll take these with us to be safe."

Morgan nods and grabs the other two guns. "Let's go check out those other locations."

After securing the guns in the back of their SUV and logging them with evidence tags the two agents take off to look into some of the places they had identified while looking for the bunker.

* * *

Hotch and Derringer make Calvin take a seat in the office where she had nabbed Garcia.

"Where's your partner?" Hotch demands.

She just smiles at him, exercising her right to remain silent.

Hotch raises an eyebrow. "You'll be charged with every death that occurred here. First degree murder. You wanted Garcia to access the commune accounts so you can add several more counts for that indiscretion. Whether you talk now or later you will spend the rest of your life in jail. But work with us and we can help you find a better facility than would normally be afforded you."

Samantha leans forward, making sure her chest is on display to the LEOs. "Lawyer."

"Last chance to help yourself," Hotch warns.

She sits back and puffs her chest out more. "Lawyer," she repeats.

Derringer steps past Hotch and grabs her by the shirt. "YOU KILLED KIDS, YOU SICK FUCK! Tell us where your fucking partner is or I'll make DAMN sure you regret EVER setting foot on this property!"

She just laughs in his face. Hotch and Rossi pull the sheriff off of her and back him up. "We're in trouble. She's a sociopath," Rossi states.

"Yeah? And?" Derringer pushes.

"To kill this many people, to have no connection to them you'd have to be a psychopath. Her partner is the one who came up with the idea to kill everyone, probably the one that suggested they be staged to look like a cult suicide," Hotch explains. "She has no moral conscience so she will not give up anything to us. We need to find him and then play them against each other."

"How do we do that?"

"I have no idea," Hotch admits. "But for now we need to keep her secured and not let anyone know a suspect is in custody. We need to be ready for her partner to act." He walks over and picks up the commune phone. "Kevin? Get the tower back on."

"Yes, sir. Two minutes, sir."

"Good. Thank you." Hotch hangs up and pulls out his cell phone to wait for it to show signal. Before it happens, Reid and Garcia show up. "Where are Morgan and Prentiss?"

"Emily had an idea that one of the places we flagged as maybe being the bunker could actually be the unsub's hide out. They went to check it out," Reid explains.

Hotch nods. "Smart. Let's hope she's right."

Garcia steps past them into the office she had been using. She stumbles to a stop as she sees the woman that attacked her sitting there and smiling as just there for a visit.

"You are a mean and evil troll!" Garcia tells her then grabs her laptop.

She goes out and turns it on. "Good boy, Kevin. You got us back online," she says. "Okay, Samantha Calvin, who are you intimate with," Garcia mutters as she starts to peel through the layers of the woman's life.

* * *

An hour later Rossi is staring at photos of known associates of Samantha Calvin. He shakes his head.

"None of these are the guy at the convenience store," he states.

"Are you sure? He could have lost weight or otherwise changed his appearance?" Hotch notes.

Rossi waves the pictures. "I'm telling you, Aaron, he's not here."

Hotch thinks about it for a second. "How recent are these guys in her history?"

Rossi flips through them. "This guy is most recent. Five years ago."

"So sometime after him she meets someone else and then cooks up the scheme to take over this commune," Hotch says. He turns to Garcia. "Are you sure this place isn't on anyone's radar?"

"If it is it's not listed as the commune."

"What about the coordinates?" Rossi asks.

"What do you mean?"

"If some agency is watching this area but not the commune itself, they'd have the coordinates listed somewhere."

Garcia starts to type. "Gonna…take…time…"

"Do you what you can to cut the time down," Hotch says.

"Already am, sir," the hacker assures him.

He nods and turns back to Rossi and Reid. "So what's going on here?"

"I think Emily might be right about the mercenary angle," Reid states. "There is a lot of land to hide weapons, there is land to drill if they are soldiers of fortune, and if we look at this logically there is no way 2 people alone could stage all the bodies the way we found them in essentially just a few hours."

"How many would it take?" Rossi asks.

Reid contemplates that a moment. "I would say based on T.O.D. as determined by the M.E. added to the time the first bodies were found…maybe 10 people to get it all done and remove whatever they used to block the vents at each hut."

"So her, the guy and 8 others," Hotch notes as he pulls out his phone. "And Morgan and Emily are out there alone. I'm calling them back in."

"OH MY GOD!" Garcia squeals.

The three agents turn to her. "What?" Hotch asks.

"Sir, the ATF has been working on a sting for some low-level gun runners. They believe they are looking to step up in the world as not just dealers but also soldiers of fortune. They have identified 3 former military veterans as part of the group."

Hotch pulls out his phone and dials Morgan's number. It rings once then dies. He tries Emily. No answer.

"Garcia! Where are they?"

Garcia pulls up her tracking program. "Their phones are offline, sir, and I can't seem to turn them back on."

"Son of a BITCH! Keep trying to get them back online. Text me the coordinates where they were last on." He looks at Rossi and Reid. "Let's get Derringer, a few of his deputies and some of the Guardsmen."

"And the ATF?"

Hotch starts dialing. "Already calling."

The group hurries out, leaving Garcia to try to figure out how to get Morgan and Emily back online. She glances over at the room where their prisoner is being held.

"If any of them are hurt I may have to forget I'm a pacifist and go apeshit on that bitch's ass," she mutters as she works.

* * *

The first two places Emily and Morgan stop show signs that they were used by the commune for hunting purposes. At the third, they see lots of tracks from ATV's. Emily squats down beside one.

"I didn't see any ATV's, just a couple trucks and that one old Jeep."

Morgan nods. "I agree."

She stands. "This isn't good, Morgan. This is more than 1 or 2 people running weapons."

He gestures up a deer path. "Let's head up this hill and see what we can see from a higher vantage point."

She follows him up the hill. As they reach the top, Morgan immediately squats down. Emily drops then eases up beside him. From the protection of the trees they see a makeshift camp in the small valley below them: three trailers, 2 tents and 2 storage buildings. They also see 4 ATV's as well as a 4x4 pickup with a lift kit. They slide back down the hill a bit.

"So very, very not good," Emily amends her earlier statement.

"Did you see the obstacle course?" Emily nods. "Went through something like that with JJ when we trained for Afghanistan."

"So not just gun runners, soldiers of fortune. Fucking beautiful," Emily grunts.

"I can't believe- -"

Morgan's statement chokes off as 4 men in full tactical gear carrying automatic firearms step out of the woods. The two agents exchange a quick look, realizing they may never get a chance to warn their teammates just what it is they have stumbled onto.


	14. Chapter 14

Hotch had immediately called Chief Straus and told her about the BATFE not being completely honest about their dealings with the commune. Obviously the one agency was more worried about the FBI compromising their operation rather than with putting the families and friends of the victims at ease by giving them answers.

"Stupid, fucking, political BULLSHIT!" Hotch screams as he hangs up his phone. He looks at Rossi, who is driving. "Straus is calling Ryder so he can demand full disclosure. Truth is, if the unsubs killed off the people here they were most likely ready to move on and wanted attention on the commune so they could get away. And if they aren't gone yet…"

"Then there's a good chance Morgan and Emily have stumbled onto them," Rossi concludes.

"Yes."

"Maybe they will think two Federal agents are good bargaining chips," Reid suggests.

"Not likely," Rossi responds pessimistically.

Hotch continues to kick himself, doubt about his ability to lead a team starting to weigh heavily on his mind. "I need a fucking vacation," he mutters.

Rossi chances a glance at his boss, guessing correctly what is going on behind brown eyes turned black with determination. Thank goodness Emily had texted them when they arrived at each place they wanted to investigate otherwise they would be blindly looking for the missing agents.

Rossi tries to will Derringer, who is in the lead, to drive faster even though he knows the trails they are taking can be a bit hazardous at best.

* * *

Morgan and Emily raise their hands.

"We're FBI agents and- -"

"Shut up!" one man orders and clubs Morgan upside the head, knocking him all the way to the ground.

"HEY!" Emily hollers, and reaches for him.

The man that had clubbed Morgan turns his gun on Emily. "Stay still or die!"

Emily freezes, knowing the man means it. "We're FBI, you stupid fuck!"

Another man steps out of the trees, shaking his head. "What the hell are you two doing here?"

"We're investigating the deaths at the commune. Why the hell didn't you all tell us there was an ATF investigation here? I know we checked on that!"

"It was need to know. You're investigation was so far away we didn't think it had any bearing on our operation."

Emily stands up and gets in the man's face. "No BEARING?! You didn't think we might stumble on this during the course of our investigation?" She points back to the hilltop. "Did you think that maybe just MAYBE those bastards were responsible for their deaths?"

"Not the concern of our agency at this time."

Emily's mind flashes to the children, women, men all dead in the commune. Add in this man's matter-of-fact tone and it's too much. Before he can even react she hauls back and punches him. She has a split second of pleasure as she watches him go down.

Then she is tazered and ends up on the ground herself.

"NO! She's a federal agent, man!" Morgan hollers, still holding his head.

The leader of the ATF team looks at his men. "Cuff them both until we get confirmation from Washington what we should do with them."

Morgan starts to protest but the threat of being hit in the head again quiets him. He knows Straus will tear up the BATFE for this once she finds out what is happening. As he watches Emily get rolled and cuffed he has one more spiteful thought.

"_And you can imagine what the Ambassador will do_," he thinks to himself.

His phone starts to ring. One man grabs it, drops it and stomps on it. Morgan just rolls his eyes at the ridiculous act of destruction. He can't help but chuckle with the guy does the same when Emily's phone rings.

"You are doing your best to destroy agency goodwill, not to mention fucking with our equipment budget."

The man ignores him. Two men grab Emily under the arms and drag her along behind Morgan and the others as they make their way to the command unit the ATF has set up in the woods.

* * *

The rest of the agents, local police and National Guard pull up beside Morgan's SUV. Hotch gets out and approaches the others as Rossi starts to look for tracks telling them where the two agents went. He addresses his extraction team.

"Two agents are missing. It could be that they have been discovered by a paramilitary group we now know is squatting on this land. We need to- -"

"Stand down, Agent," a man says with disgust.

Hotch spins around as a man in black tactical gear walks towards him. Only the badge on his chest keeps Hotch from pulling his gun. "Who the hell are you?"

"Lagina, ATF. You all are crashing our investigation. Leave."

Hotch steps closer. "Where are my agents?"

"In custody. Both made aggressive acts towards me and my men. The female actually punched me."

Hotch lifts an eyebrow. "Something tells me it was deserved. You're about to get a call. You'll tell us everything we need to know, you'll release my agents, and you will help us find and arrest this man as well as anyone else related to him. The charges are first degree murder of over 200 people."

Lagina's eyes narrow. "You don't tell me how to run my operation. We're not moving on them until we're ready."

"Then you better get ready. We've got one of them in custody. She kidnapped my analyst to try to get her to release the bank accounts of the commune to your suspects. It won't be happening and these guys will only wait for so long before they realize she's not going to get the money to them. In fact, considering how long it's been since we got Garcia back, they probably already know something is wrong. We move in now or you lose them until the next time they set up camp somewhere and kill who knows how many people. I'll be glad to let everyone who's anyone know that you are the one responsible for the deaths, Lagina."

"You're bluffing." His phone starts to ring.

"Answer it," Hotch sneers.

Lagina finally grabs it after the third ring. "Lagina." He listens a moment. "But, sir, I…well, no…" he listens some more. "But if they…" He clenches his jaw. "Yes, sir." He hangs up. "My unit chief says you're in charge of the take down and we're to offer any support you need."

"Good. Get your men to release my agents so we can make plans. I'll need your help since you've been watching the unsubs."

"Right. Oh, uh, about the girl agent…she was aggressively restrained."

"What the fuck do you mean about the _female_ agent?" Hotch demands.

Lagina colours slightly at the subtle rebuke. "She punched me so one of my men tazed her." He glances at his watch. "Been about 10 minutes now so she should be up on her feet soon."

"You best hope she is. And you better hope she doesn't punch you again when she is." Hotch turns to Rossi. "Rossi, go with Lagina to retrieve Morgan and Prentiss. Make sure he gets everything he has on the bastards on the other side of this hill."

Rossi nods and walks off with Lagina. Hotch runs a hand through his hair.

"Stupid son of a bitch."

"I concur," Reid agrees.

The two agents pace, eager to see their teammates are really okay and determined to bring everyone they can to justice for the deaths of those in the commune.

* * *

Emily moans, her mind running down all the things she is going to do to the ATF agent that tazed her when she gets feeling back in her body.

"You with me, partner?" Morgan asks.

"Think…so," she grunts. "Gonna…kill…people."

He grins. "I promise not to get in your way this time."

Emily huffs out a slight chuckle. "How's…head?"

"Hard as ever. I'll be fine even though my handsome looks will be marred for a few days."

"God…forbid," she teases.

Emily takes a couple of deep breaths then fights her way up into a seated position. "What a clusterfuck."

"Yep. Hopefully Hotch has the posse coming for us."

"Hopefully." She sighs. "They knew, Morgan. They knew those people were dead, they knew who killed them, and still they did nothing to help us or the families. How fucked is that?"

"Very. And if it turns out they knew the murders were happening heads will roll. Might be why that jackwad was so pissed to see us."

"Maybe." Emily tries to stretch her neck. "Fuck, my head hurts. Bad."

Morgan looks over at her. "Bad like I should be concerned because of your coma or bad just because of stress and shit?"

Emily closes her eyes a moment, contemplating the answer. "I think just stress and shit." She rolls her head and looks at her best friend. "I can't believe I said those things to you. You are the best friend I've ever had. Sorry isn't enough. And, conversely, thank you isn't enough. What you did…you were right and so was Hotch: if I had simply shot that woman dead I would have lost more than my freedom. I'd have lost my wife and kids."

"You told me you've been walking a thin line for a long time, trying to keep your anger in check. Maybe today was finally the day you snapped and got it out of your system. Maybe after today you will be able to remember you have people around you that won't let you cross that line."

"I sure as hell hope so." She takes a deep breath. "Thanks for not suggesting I take time off."

"If I thought you needed it or it would help I'd insist on it. But I think what you need is to do the job the way you know it needs to be done and prove to yourself that you are worthy of that badge and your family."

Emily smiles. "Sounds about right. I love you, you know?"

He smiles. "I know. Love you, too, Em."

"Oh, and in case you're wondering? It felt _damn_ good to punch that ATF bastard."

Morgan just laughs, his response telling Emily he had been wondering exactly that. A few minutes later the door to the cargo van they are being held in opens. Two men hop up inside and move to uncuff the two agents.

"Agent Lagina needs to see you two."

"And he trusts us to be uncuffed? Brave man," Emily notes dryly.

"Shut it, Agent Prentiss. Bad enough you punched him but now your team is taking over our investigation and take down."

Morgan and Emily exchange a look. Oh, yeah, this was going to be ever so pleasant. A few minutes later they stand in front of Lagina, who is collecting some maps and print outs of various men. He doesn't bother to greet them.

"Your boss showed up and I got a call saying he's in charge. Still plan to file formal complaints against the two of you."

Morgan and Emily exchange a look. Emily steps closer.

"Look, I shouldn't have hit you. I get that and I'm sorry. File a complaint against me if you need to but leave Agent Morgan out of it."

"Don't think you can tell me what to do just because your boss can. Just shut the fuck up and let's go."

He storms past them and out of his command unit. Morgan and Emily exchange a look then follow, grabbing their credentials and firearms off the desk since Lagina hadn't offered them back.

* * *

Rossi, who had been ditched by Lagina, grins as Morgan and Emily walk up to their teammates. "What have we told you two about playing nicely with other children?"

"We tried. They cheated," Emily says with a smile.

Rossi chuckles. Hotch studies the brunette and is glad to see a spark back in her eyes that had been missing during her earlier tantrum.

"I've gotten approval for my infiltration plan. The ATF contingent will be relegated to a support position, covering the two roads the unsubs could use to escape."

"That will thrill them," Morgan notes.

"Definitely," Hotch agrees. "Morgan, Reid, you'll take 3 Guardsmen and 2 deputies and enter from the western road. Rossi, Prentiss, same numbers with you entering from the south. Derringer and I will watch from the hillside and be in constant contact with you all. The ATF has confirmed lots of guns, not just what the commune had as well as grenades and C-4."

"Are you fucking kidding me? Why weren't they taken out sooner?" Emily protests.

"They wanted the next rung on the ladder."

"And meanwhile 200 people die. Fucking incredible," Morgan blurts.

"We'll worry about that later. For now, let's get these bastards in custody. As soon as the sun is down but before the moon is up."

The team nods and goes to meet the men that will be assisting them in the take down of the gun running murderers.

* * *

Rossi follows Emily to the edge of the woods. The ATF had confirmed there were 11 people in the group. Calvin makes one of them. So far they had only seen four men walking around. They have to hope the rest of the men are in the buildings. If not, there are 6 people unaccounted for: 5 men and 1 woman. Their earbuds come to life.

"Go," Hotch orders.

Emily stands, gun extended and starts towards the first building. Rossi follows close behind, the rest of their squad behind him. At the first building Emily pauses, her eyes now focused on the next building as Rossi and a deputy clear the storage building. Rossi taps Emily's leg and she starts forward again, now approaching one of the tents. No surprise, it is empty on this cold night.

When they reach the first trailer, they are expecting it to be empty as the ATF had said it was more an office than a dwelling. Emily steps past the door, once more covering what's going on in front of them as Rossi and a deputy approach the door. Rossi reaches for the door but Emily suddenly spins back.

"NO!" she hisses.

Rossi's hand stills. She gestures for him to change places with her as she approaches the door. She carefully studies the door frame, running her fingers up and around the edges. She keys her earbud.

"First trailer is wired to blow when the door opens." Rossi's eyes widen. "Morgan, check for wires running up the door trim."

"Copy, Prentiss," Morgan replies.

Emily moves back to Rossi's side. "Nice call, kid," Rossi whispers.

"Just dawned on me it would make sense to booby trap their office," she tells him.

He nods. She takes the lead and now brings her team to the next trailer. Surveillance had confirmed at least 3 people in this trailer. Emily carefully checks the door then nods to Rossi that it is clear of explosives.

"Teams 1 and 2 prepare to announce yourselves," Hotch says over the earbuds. "On three. One. Two. ROCKET!"

It takes everyone a split second to register the warning versus the final order to enter. Emily and Rossi spin as the trailer they had passed explodes, the rocket propelled grenade mixing with the C-4 to decimate the building.

"RUN! GET AWAY FROM THE BUILDINGS! RUN!" Hotch's frantic voice calls.

The LEO's and Guardsmen all run as two more rpgs are fired, taking out the remaining two trailers. Emily hears Rossi grunt. She turns and sees him on the ground. She runs back to him and grabs his arm.

"COME ON! GET UP!"

He stumbles up, his right leg dragging from taking shrapnel from the exploding trailer. Emily gets his arm over her shoulder and half carries, half drags him away as automatic gun fire starts to rip through the trees at the squads.

When they reach the safety of the northern treeline, Emily eases Rossi to the ground. "HOTCH! Rossi is hit!" She looks at the rest of her team. "One deputy down; still in the clearing. Rest of us made it."

"Copy. Morgan?"

"Two men down. One man injured but here in the trees with us."

"Copy. We counted 3 gunmen in the trees. Same area as where the rockets came from so they should be the only ones there."

"Okay, I'll take a team around and cut them off from the right," Emily says.

"I'll take a team to the left."

"No, Morgan! We do that we'll be firing at each other. Follow behind us and be ready to catch up and help us take these bastards out."

"Good idea," Hotch agrees. "Go!"

"Good luck, kid," Rossi wishes.

"Thanks, Rossi. Be back for you soon."

Emily and her team quickly moves through the safety of the trees towards their foes. As they get behind the burning buildings they see 4 men come out of the woods and heading for the ATVs.

"Confirm 4 unsubs going for vehicles. Repeat 4 unsubs, not 3," Emily radios. She looks at her men. "On three we rush them. They will not surrender but we'll give them a chance." The men nod. Emily turns back, waiting for the unsubs to be more concerned with getting the ATV's started than watching for attack. "Okay…one…two…THREE!"

The squad races out of the trees, Emily in the lead.

"FBI! PUT YOUR HANDS IN THE AIR! DO IT NOW!"

Two men look so stunned they immediately do as Emily commands. The other two men grab for their guns and leap behind their ATV's. Once again gunfire lights up the night as the two men fire at Emily and her squad. Her squad members all return fire. Two of her men grab the men that surrendered and take them to the ground. She runs around the end of the first SUV and sees that driver is very much dead, at least three bullet wounds in his head.

One of the deputies steps to the other man that had fought back…and takes a bullet in the throat as the man was just playing possum. He gets off one more shot before Emily and a Guardsman end his life. Emily turns and confirms the two survivors had been subdued.

She keys her mic. "Clear. Two in custody, two dead."

"Where are the others?" one of the deputies ask.

Emily looks towards the burning trailers. "We may not know until those are extinguished."

Morgan walks up. "Good job, partner."

"Thanks. Two dead, two in custody. Still missing 6."

Morgan nods. "I know. Nothing we can do right now."

"Yeah. Come on: Rossi's hurt."

Morgan nods and follows her to get Rossi while Reid stays with the deputies to secure the two prisoners.


	15. Chapter 15

At 2 a.m. Emily eases into her wife's hospital room. She stares at the golden beauty in the bed illuminated by the emergency lights. Her face is so happy, so peaceful as her hand rubs over their babies as she sleeps. Emily is not sure JJ has ever been more beautiful. She walks over and strokes a hand over golden locks before leanings over to kiss her gently.

"I love you, Jennifer Prentiss," she whispers.

JJ sighs happily in her sleep, leaning her head into Emily's hands. The taller woman smiles. She hooks a chair with her ankle and pulls it close to the bed. She drops the safety rail and sits down beside her wife. She lifts JJ's hand and gives it a kiss then puts her own head down on the edge of the bed. She'd just catch a quick nap.

Yep, just a quick nap, Emily convinces herself as exhaustion catches up to her and she rapidly falls asleep.

* * *

As expected, it is a bureaucratic nightmare as those left back at the commune lands try to determine how the small group of mercenaries knew the raid was coming. The BATFE blames the FBI. The FBI blames the ATF. All Hotch knows for sure is Straus and her counterpart at the other agency are already on a jet to Socorro so they can take over the reins of the investigation. Hotch slowly studies the smoldering remains of the trailers.

"What a fucking mess," he mutters.

Morgan walks up to him. "Doubt we'll be able to get into the trailers until close to noon. No telling if there will be enough remains left to even tell how many died in them."

Hotch runs a hand through his uncharacteristically mussed hair. "Fuck." He looks at his second. "I need a vacation."

Morgan nods. "I bet you do."

"Once this shit is settled and we know what the commission decided I'm taking a week."

"Whatever you need, Hotch. I'll keep the kids in line."

Hotch manages a grin. "And who will keep you in line?"

"JJ, of course," Morgan answers immediately.

Hotch chuckles. "Of course. How could I forget?"

The two stand in silence a moment, just watching the firemen watching the buildings burn. They had decided not to actively fight the blazes due to the risk of ammunition or explosives being in the rubble. As such, the firemen are there to keep the blaze from spreading to the trees.

"Any word on Rossi?" Morgan asks.

Hotch nods. "Reid just called. They were able to remove the shrapnel in the ER with no problem. He has 17 stitches and will need a cane to help him walk but will be fine in a couple weeks."

"Good." He takes a deep breath. "That first trailer…what if Emily hadn't suspected something…"

"We'd have lost them both," Hotch answers bluntly. Morgan just nods. "This wasn't our fault, Morgan. No matter what Lagina and those other assholes say they are at fault here. Over two hundred people were murdered and they didn't bother to step forward with information to help our investigation."

"Do you think they knew?"

"They've had these guys under surveillance for a while. Fuck yeah, they knew," Hotch answers bitterly. "Come on, there's nothing more we can do here. Let's get the RV's for some sleep. Garcia is probably still working, too."

"Most likely. And we don't even want to know what the hell she's hacked after all this shit happened," Morgan adds with a grin.

Hotch laughs. "Why do I feel we could quiz her on the internet history of Lagina's kids?"

Hotch pats Morgan on the shoulder. The two men make their way back to their SUV, knowing they can do nothing more until the fires are out.

* * *

Garcia saves yet another file to her server. "You will not even be allowed to say the words Law Enforcement by the time I am done with you. And you won't even THINK the words Federal Agent without risking imprisonment."

The more she had dug the angrier she had gotten. Turns out this ATF group had seen "suspicious activity" in the commune on Christmas Eve. They had been "a little concerned" that members of the paramilitary group had actually gone into the compound whereas in the past they had avoided being anywhere near the peaceful people. When the BAU team had arrived it had been deemed "irrelevant" to the ATF investigation and they had decided they would only get involved if the FBI "stumbled upon" the gun runners, at which time the agents would be detained indefinitely lest they ruin the ATF operation.

"In-fucking-CREDIBLE!" Garcia blurts as she saves yet another set of emails between Lagina and the man on a jet right this moment with Chief Straus. "You stupid mother FUCKERS!"

Hotch and Morgan exchange a look. It is rare to see the analyst this angry. Morgan approaches carefully.

"You okay, Baby Girl?"

"NO! Those fucking bastards KNEW! They knew shit was happening here that shouldn't be and they knew people were probably being killed and then they knew people had died and they did NOTHING because they were more concerned with their stupid investigation identifying the next player in the gun running game that they just didn't care that men and women and children died and JJ was tackled and a teenager was scared and they- -"

Morgan grabs her by the shoulders. "WHOA! Easy, Garcia! Easy. Take a deep breath." She does. "Now let it out slowly."

Hotch had walked up as Morgan tries to calm the angry woman. He raises an eyebrow at something he sees on the desk. "Garcia…did you really just doctor a whole pot of coffee?"

Garcia nods. "Yeah. It was easier."

"How many times?"

Garcia thinks a second. "I believe that's my third."

Hotch and Morgan start to chuckle. Morgan makes her stand up. "Hit save and let's go, Baby Girl. You're going to my RV and lie down. Goodness knows you may not sleep but you need to try."

"But there's more information I need to collect and send to Straus."

"I'm sure you've sent her plenty for now," Hotch says. "You need to rest or you may miss something important."

Garcia sighs. "Are you sure?"

"Very sure," Hotch insists.

"Okay. But just for a couple hours."

"Of course."

The three head out to try to get some rest knowing the arrival of both Section Chiefs will probably lead to more questions and accusations. But if nothing else, at least they have answers for Wynn Station and Narvel Sessions. For now that's the one thing they will focus on so they can try to get some sleep.

* * *

"Agent Prentiss? A word please."

Emily lifts her head. She sees Agent Lagina standing beside her. She groans when she sees the clock reads 5:15. She stands and gives her sleeping wife a kiss on the temple before following the ATF unit chief into the hallway. She follows him down to a break room where two other ATF agents wait. The hair on the back of her neck stands up.

"What's going on?"

"Are you armed?" Lagina asks.

"Of course I am. The gun's on my fucking hip in plain sight."

"Clutch piece?"

"What's going on?" she asks again.

Lagina nods to his two men. "Assume the position, Prentiss. You're under arrest."

"WHAT?! What the fuck for?"

"Assaulting a federal officer, interfering with an investigation, and the one we're still looking into, aiding and abetting."

"Aiding and abetting who?" she demands.

Lagina nods to his men again. One man pushes Emily up against the wall. Her first instinct is to fight back but she knows they will use that against her, too. She lets the men disarm her and cuff her as Lagina recites the Miranda. As she is spun away from the wall she glares at him.

"You have so totally fucked yourself, asshole."

He steps into her face. "No, Agent Prentiss, you have. You made a huge mistake. You should have let that guy Rossi open the booby trapped trailer. But you realized you were too close and would get caught in the blast. Just like most chicken shits, you were more concerned about yourself than about perceptions. You knew that trailer was rigged and the only way you could know that was to be one of the bastards we are after."

Emily rolls her eyes. "You are such a fucking idiot. Hope you enjoyed your time at the ATF because it's over now," she says confidently.

"Right. We'll see." He looks at his men. "Let's go.

Each man grabs an arm and marches Emily out after Lagina. Through a window in the ER waiting area Reid sees her being put in an agency SUV. He races towards the doors.

"EMILY!"

She looks out the window and mouths. "Call Hotch," as the vehicle pulls away.

Reid nods and whips out his phone. "Hotch? ATF just arrested Emily again."

* * *

When Straus and BATFE Section Chief Michael Kotk show up at the Socorro police station they have been fully briefed on the events of the night before. Well, almost fully briefed. Straus raises an eyebrow.

"Michael, why is one of my agents cuffed and being interrogated?"

Kotk steps up beside her and looks through the window into the interrogation room. Emily sits at the table, hands cuffed, feet propped up on it, a look of boredom on her face while Lagina waves a bunch of papers at her.

"Is that Emily Prentiss?"

"Yes," Straus confirms.

Kotk rolls his eyes. "Let's go see what's going on."

The two chiefs walk over and open the door. A furious Lagina spins around. "I SAID STAY OUT!" His face colours as Emily snickers. "Uh, sir, I didn't…know…"

"Why is Agent Prentiss in custody?" Kotk demands.

"She knew too much, sir. She shouldn't have known that trailer was set to blow when the door opened. She could only know that much if she was in it with those bastards."

"Really?" He turns to Emily. "Long time no see, Prentiss."

She smiles and nods. "Yep. Chicago, right? When you called us in because those guys dealing guns to drug dealers were using a foster home as a cover. Sick fucks."

Kotk nods. "Yeah they were. Still in prison, too."

At this point, Lagina knows he's in deep shit and drops into a chair. Kotk turns back to his agent.

"Did you ask her how she knew?"

"Uh, well…um…"

Kotk turns to Emily. "How did you know that the trailer was booby trapped?"

"My very first case with the BAU dealt with a terrorist cell. They had rigged a trailer to blow and something just…just niggled at the back of my head. Rossi wasn't with us that case so it wouldn't cross his mind. The fact that we never saw anyone around this trailer made me think it was a blind. Better safe than sorry, I checked it and found the wires running up the door trim."

Straus nods. "Well done, Agent Prentiss."

"Now, I do have to admit I punched Lagina. That was after one of his men clubbed SSA Derek Morgan upside the head when he tried to show his credentials. But since I was then tazed I'd say we're even on the assault charges."

Lagina's head looks like it might explode. Kotk turns to him. "Uncuff her and make arrangements to get her back to the hospital to be with her teammates. Then plan to drive Straus and I out to the scene. We seem to have a LOT to talk about, Lagina, starting with why you didn't act when you saw so many victims of murder."

Lagina gives a curt nod. "Yes, sir."

Emily nods her thanks to Straus and Kotk as Lagina reluctantly unlocks her wrists.

"Thanks, Lagina. Been a real treat," she says as she walks out the door.

* * *

When Emily walks into her wife's hospital room a little while later JJ is just starting to wake up.

"Hi, baby," Emily says with a smile.

JJ grins. "Hi. I had the weirdest dream that you were already here. Was confused when I opened my eyes and you weren't."

"Well you know how concussions can screw with your dreams." She leans over and kisses her. "How you feeling?"

"Better. They used Dermabond on the wound and then a topical for pain and even for the headache. Still feel a bit of pain but not as bad as I thought since I can't have pain pills."

Emily rubs a hand over the babies. "And they are okay?"

"Pretty much. I think they are upset the hospital didn't have peanut buttered pickles on the menu."

Emily chuckles. "We'll have plenty for you on the plane."

"We leaving today?"

"Yep. It's all over."

"Damn. What did I miss?"

"Not much. Since you haven't asked, I assume you know Pen is okay?"

"Yeah, she called me last night to let me know."

"Good. Well, other than that you didn't miss much. Let's see, Morgan got clubbed by an ass from the ATF. I punched the ATF team leader and got tazed. Then we were arrested by the ATF until Hotch rescued us. Oh, and then we got most of the bad guys after a hell of a fireworks display. Rossi got a little hurt but should be fine. Umm…let's see, oh, yeah, I got arrested for aiding and abetting the bad guys but Straus rescued me. Other than that you didn't miss much."

JJ studies her wife a moment then starts to laugh. "You are such a shit sometimes. How about some details, Agent Prentiss."

Emily smiles and strokes a hand over her wife's head. "Well, if you insist." Emily gives her the full rundown of everything. As she finishes, JJ shakes her head.

"Incredible. Maybe next time just leave your answer at 'Not much'."

"Deal, Mrs. Prentiss." Emily leans over and gives her a kiss. "I love you, Jen. You and Lucas and, uh,…well…"

"Madison."

Emily leans up. "Madison?"

JJ nods. "Madison Emily Prentiss."

Emily smiles. "I love it, Jen. I love you and Lucas and Madison so very, very much."

* * *

Just before 11, the door to JJ's room opens to admit Narvel Sessions and Wynn Station. The two men give a cautious wave.

"Uh, hi. Mind if we come in?" Narvel asks.

JJ smiles. "Of course not." She looks at Emily, who dozes in a chair. "You'll probably be better conversationalists than my current company."

Narvel grins and pats Wynn on the shoulder. "We both wanted to thank you and your team for everything you did to get the truth for us. It…it doesn't bring them back but at least we know they didn't turn on everything they had believed in. The commune was always about life, not…not all that."

"I'm so sorry it's gone."

"It may not be completely gone. I can work from home so I think I'll see about keeping it going," Narvel says. "I owe it to Mom, Skinny and all the others to at least try." He pats Wynn on the shoulder. "And I'll have help, right, Wynn?"

Wynn nods. "I want to make it a good place again, too. I never…never quite appreciated it." He steps towards the bed. "I wanted to say I'm really, really sorry for knocking you over. I was scared and hungry and…and…I'm just real sorry, Agent Jareau."

"I forgive you, Wynn. In your shoes I'd have been scared, too."

"And uh, your babies are okay?"

"They are perfect. Promise."

"Good. Real good." He glances at Emily. "Um, she knows that, right?"

JJ laughs. "Yes, she does. She's not mad at you, Wynn. She's past it."

"Good. She's kinda scary."

"Ah, she's a teddy bear in disguise," JJ assures him.

"Well, Wynn and I need to get going. We've got a meeting with a judge today to see if I can get custody of him."

"Excellent. Well, good luck. We'll keep you informed as more of the case hashes out."

The two leave and JJ glances over at her wife, who is still sleeping. On the news that morning there had been a story about a fund being set up to pay for the funerals of the commune members. JJ reaches over and picks up Emily's phone and dials the number to their accountant.

"Hi, Rick? Jennifer Prentiss." She listens. "Fine, thanks. I'm calling because the Amy Jareau Foundation needs to make a couple of donations and we'll also need one from Emily and me personally."

By the time she hangs up, generous donations had been made from the foundations and the Prentiss' to the burial funds. And the Amy Jareau Foundation had set up a college fund for Wynn Station. Some days it's easier to accept the whole "Prentiss Thing."

* * *

At 3 the BAU team is getting onboard the jet to fly home. Straus is staying behind to help with the aftermath of the whole ordeal and make sure a positive spin is put out for the public. As far as anyone will know, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives worked hand in hand seamlessly to solve the murders and bring down the weapons runners.

Let's face it, for the truth to be told would only cause public concern and undue scrutiny. At least that's what Straus has stated.

After the plane takes off, Hotch steps to the middle of the plane. "On Tuesday we'll get the word from the commission on the future of our team. For the rest of this week just concentrate on the write ups for this case and the current opens on your desk."

The team nods. JJ lies on the couch, her head in Emily's lap. She glances at Garcia, who nods.

"Uh, sir, I hate to do this but we've got a long flight and may as well get this out of the way," Garcia states.

Hotch frowns. "Get what out of the way?"

"Turns out there was a safety film we were supposed to watch for HR before the end of the year. Straus figures we can watch it on the flight home and you can sign off on it."

Hotch rolls his eyes. "Oh for fuck's sake. Fine. Key it up and let's get it out of the way."

He settles down as Garcia gets the film keyed up. Emily glances down at her wife and sees the look of mischief.

"What have you two done?" she whispers.

"You'll see," JJ answers. "We need a laugh. Luckily it will be at Morgan and Hotch's expense."

A few minutes later Garcia dims the cabin lights as an old time movie reel starts to play on the TV, doing the countdown from 5 before it starts. When the 50's style voiceover begins, the agents look confused.

"_Ah, the 1950's have been booming for Americans in many ways."_

The film shows happy families in a typical neighborhood. People wave to each other, one man waters a lawn, a woman carries in groceries to her house. The voiceover continues.

"_More and more of homes across the country are adding new appliances to help wives and mothers with their chores. Innovative designs and improvements to refrigerators mean kitchens across the country are becoming more efficient and more beautiful. But this has also led to a scary epidemic of accidents when old units are disposed of improperly.."_

The clip shows an old refrigerator sitting in a field. Morgan and Hotch both groan. The others start to giggle.

"_Sadly, these old appliances are becoming death traps for our children. Kids playing hide and seek see a perfect place to hide. But once inside, there is no way to get out."_

"Damn, we should have watched this before the St. Paul case," Rossi notes.

Morgan looks at Garcia, a twinkle in his eyes. "You are so mean, Baby Girl."

Hotch stands and glares at Garcia. "You do know I haven't finished year end review, right?"

Garcia chuckles. "Ah, I can do a thing and fix ours if I need to."

"Ours?" Hotch questions.

Garcia's eyes flick towards JJ. "Uh, you know…just mine and my dolls."

Hotch looks at JJ, who is smiling ear to ear. "I'll remember this, Jareau."

"Sit down, Hotch, the movie isn't done and you and Morgan need it more than the rest of us," JJ teases.

Everyone laughs as Hotch just rolls his eyes and walks back up front. "I'll be sleeping. Don't wake me until we land."

Garcia turns off the video. Morgan pats her on the arm.

"Good one, my goddess. We needed the laugh."

"I know."

Morgan pats JJ's leg. "Thanks to you, too."

"No problem. Just hope you and Hotch have learned why it is bad to run into refrigerators."

"Yeah, yeah…take a nap, Blondie."

JJ just grins. Soon everyone but the Prentiss women are dozing. Emily is running her fingers through her wife's hair.

"That feels so good," JJ murmurs.

"I'm glad. Headache still lingering?"

"Keep doing that and it won't be."

"Then I guess we know what I'll be doing this whole flight. I love you, Jen."

"I love you, too."

JJ takes her wife's free hand, kisses it, then continues to hold it as she closes her eyes to get a nap in and hopefully be finished with the headache by the time they get home.

* * *

"MOMMY! MAMA!" Henry yells as he runs towards them.

Emily catches him and lifts him up. "Hey, Champ! Did you have fun with Daddy and Helen?"

"Si, Mama! Eated crawfish lots and saw Aunty Marie and played with my cousins and then came home to see Ska!"

JJ chuckles. "Glad he was the reason you came home, Little Man." She gives him a kiss. "I love you, Henry."

"Love you, too, Mommy. And Mama Helen said to tell you thank you for the pretty baby blanket."

JJ glances at her wife to see what she thinks of the term "Mama" being attached to Helen's name. Emily seems okay. JJ looks back at Henry.

"I'm glad she likes it."

"MAMA! MOMMY!"

JJ squats down as Rocky runs out of the playroom. "Hi, Rock Star! How's my girl?" She stands with her.

"Good! Ree home!"

"Yes he is! Are you happy?"

"Si!"

The two stand in the hallway getting the rundown on all they had missed while they were gone. As the kids finish, Sandy steps out to greet her daughters.

"Hi. Dinner will be ready soon. You probably want to get washed up."

JJ nods and sets Rocky down. "Definitely."

"All okay out there?" Sandy asks.

"Other than Emily getting arrested a couple times, yep," JJ answers.

Henry frowns. "Mama get 'rested?"

Emily rolls her eyes. "It was an accident, Champ. Promise."

"Okay."

Alan walks over and takes Henry. "Let's go get settled for dinner, Henry."

Upstairs in their bedroom, JJ studies her wife. "You okay with him calling Helen Mama?"

Emily nods. "Yeah, I am. He has to call her something other than Helen when his little sister is born. You should always be Mommy. Helen and I can split Mama. I'm good with that."

JJ pulls her as close as Lucas and Madison will allow. "You are so good about so many things. I love you."

"I love you, too."

The two share a kiss, get changed and go downstairs to spend an evening with their kids and the Jareau's. It's a nice way to relax after a stressful week on the road tracking down those that killed for absolutely no good reason at all.

And with the commission's decision now looming, who knows how much longer they will all be doing the job they all love?

* * *

**A/N: So what in the WORLD will that commission decide? And have Hotch and Morgan truly learned their lessons about playing in refrigerators? We'll find out in the fluffy start to their 2012. But be warned: I am working on 65, making notes on 66 which will be a case fic, and working on part 2 of After the Fall: The Rise. Essentially, my muses are driving me crazy. And around all that are work and the farm. Hopefully something will start posting soon. Cross your eyes and dot your tees!**

**See you somewhere in my crazy follies soon!**

**-AR**


End file.
